Naruto's Changes
by JulyvsDaniel
Summary: Kurama and Kushina had planned to make Naruto the perfect Jinchuriki but an old enemy interfered and that plan went down the toilet. Incomplete, the process was never finished but lay as dormant as Kurama's power. When Naruto taps into the power, it has a few unexpected side effects. Naruhina and Kuramatabi(KuramaXMatatabi)
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. This is a challenge I was given recently. I will update my other stories but not yet. If you want a certain story updated, pester me about it and I will get it done. Give me an angry PM about me not updating whichever story and I'll get to it. :) This chapter is the same as the episode(mostly) until Haku falls.

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Change

Naruto stared in shock at Sasuke. Haku had been pelting them from all sides with Senbon and Sasuke had shielded Naruto from an attack. Now he was laying on the ground, dead. Red chakra began swirling around Naruto. He began to shake as his anger boiled into fury. He looked up at Haku and Haku could see that his eyes were now blood red with slit pupils. The sight of the eyes alone terrified him even though he wasn't sure why.

"I'm gonna kill you," Naruto said his voice slightly closer to a growl than before.

As the chakra continued to swirl, the face of a fox with red eyes formed over Naruto and the senbon stuck in his back were forced out. Then his injuries healed producing some steam. His fingernails grew into claws, the lines on his face thickened, his hair grew thicker and messier, and his teeth became pointed. The fox head disappeared and the chakra finally settled a bit but remained visible in a swirling ring about six inches high around Naruto. Then he turned toward Haku and began to move toward him.

Haku threw three senbon at him but he produced a feral roar and chakra shot forward and knocked the senbon out of the air. Naruto continued but Haku suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him.

"His chakra grows stronger every second," Haku said to himself. "I must strike now!"

His image was suddenly displayed in every mirror and all of him threw senbon. The senbon hit their target and stuck in Naruto's back and shoulders. But Naruto simply roared even louder and the senbon shot out of him as chakra shot out and into the mirrors along with gale-force winds. The wind was so strong that Haku couldn't move and was stuck in one mirror. Naruto instantly charged at him and smashed the mirror but Haku managed to avoid the punch. As Naruto was landing, Haku appeared from a mirror shard and fell at Naruto with a senbon ready to stab him.

At the last second, Naruto suddenly shot sideways and flipped multiple times landing on his feet and one hand and slid a few feet before looking over at Haku. Haku fled toward a mirror but Naruto grabbed his arm. He then began releasing so much chakra that Haku couldn't do anything at all, even focus his own. Then Naruto focused chakra into his fist and smashed it into Haku's mask. Haku shot away and smashed through a mirror then bounced off of his mask and rolled a good fifty feet before stopping. His mask was heavily cracked and all of his mirrors shattered.

Haku stood and his mask began to fall away. Naruto charged and leapt into the air to finish Haku off as the last piece of mask fell, revealing his face. Then, Naruto stopped, his fist mere inches away from killing Haku. Naruto's eyes had returned to normal and he was panting heavily from using so much energy but didn't seem tired otherwise.

"So, that guy in the woods," Naruto said. "That was you?"

"Why do you not strike?" Haku asked. "Did you not just vow to avenge your comrade's death by killing me? Or was that vow just empty words?"

Naruto clenched his fist harder and pulled back a bit growling then smashed his fist into Haku's face. Haku stumbled back then fell. He landed hard and waited for the next strike but it never came. Naruto was distracted by something. His eyes were normal and so her the lines on his face and his hair but his fingernails and teeth had stayed the same. Naruto had only noticed when his claws had cut into his palm when he punched Haku. Just then, Kakashi dashed forward to finish Zabuza. Haku created two mirrors, one by himself and the other in front of Zabuza. Then he stepped into the closest and into the path of Kakashi's attack. Kakashi impaled him then stumbled back.

"I'm sorry Master," Haku said. "I failed."

Zabuza stared in shock as Haku fell and died then looked at Kakashi.

"I..."Zabuza said.

"Now you die," Kakashi said.

"Wait," Zabuza said. "Give me a knife. Let me atone for as much as I can."

He somehow managed to break the bandage around his neck and mouth with his teeth then the rest fell away. Naruto tossed him a kunai and he caught it in his mouth. Then he turned toward Gato. Gato turned and retreated behind his forces. Zabuza charged forward and began cutting his way through the mercenaries with the kunai. About halfway there, several mercenaries managed to drive their weapons into his back. He kept moving and smashed his way through the rest of the mercenaries then charged forward and spun slashing Gato's throat with the kunai. Then the rest of the soldiers drove their weapons into his back.

Then, Zabuza collapsed and Naruto and Kakashi both created several clones, Kakashi making several hundred, and the last of the mercenaries turned and dove into the water in full retreat. Naruto smiled at their fear then looked back at his claws.

After a short while resting in the village, they headed back to Konoha. When they arrived, the Konoha 11 met them and welcomed them back happily. Hinata was just as shy as ever, of course, but the others cheered and patted them on the back and no one noticed Naruto's claws or fangs because Naruto kept his mouth closed and his fists clenched. When Naruto got back to his apartment he sat on his bed and held his claws up in front of his face.

"What the heck happened to me?" Naruto asked himself. "Maybe I could ask the Third. Or Kiba. He and his clan know a lot about canines of most kinds."

There was another option but he didn't feel like trying that yet. So, he rested for a few minutes, then he got up and headed for the Inuzuka house.

THE END

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics means thoughts._

"_Italics with quotations means conversations with Kurama."_

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Explanation

Naruto knocked on the door and Kiba answered within ten seconds.

"He Naruto," Kiba said. "What's up?"

"I have to ask you about something," Naruto said. "But first I will have to tell you something forbidden."

"Okay," Kiba said. "When have you followed the rules anyway?"

"I'm the Nine-tailed Fox's Jinchuriki," Naruto said.

"Oh...um...well," Kiba said. "What did you want to ask about?"

"This," Naruto said holding his hands up and showing his teeth.

"That's a good look for you," Kiba said.

"I need to know why it suddenly changed," Naruto said.

"Oh," Kiba said. "You're barking up the wrong tree dude. My mom or my sis might know. Hey Mom! Mind trying to answer a question for Naruto?"

"Sure!" Tsume called back.

Kiba led Naruto into the house and to the living room where Tsume Inuzuka was relaxing with Kuromaru.

"Hello Naruto," Tsume said. "What's up?"

"You know what I am right?" Naruto asked.

"I do," Tsume said. "How can I help?"

"Can you explain this?" Naruto asked showing his claws and teeth.

"Well," Tsume said. "That's interesting. I'm afraid I don't know anything about that but I would assume that, based on Kakashi's report, using _his_ chakra affected you. I'm not sure why but if you want Kiba can teach you to fight using those claws."

"Sure," Naruto said. "For now, I'm going to speak with the Third."

Naruto left and headed to the Hokage's office and waited patiently for him to finish a meeting with a few of the captains before he spoke.

"How can I help you My Boy?" the Third asked.

"What do you know about this?" Naruto asked showing his changes.

"I see," the Third said seriously. "The Nine-tails has made some changes to you it would seem. I'm not sure why but it would seem that those changes are taking place when you use his power."

"But you don't know why he did it?" Naruto asked.

"No," the Third said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Naruto said. "I can ask him about it."

"Good idea," the Third said. "And good luck."

Naruto nodded then headed back to his apartment. When he got there, he sat in Lotus position on his bed and entered his mindscape appearing in front of Kurama's cage. As usual the suroundings were dark and the floor was covering in a couple inches of murky water. The inside of Kurama's cage, however, was brightly lit revealing Kurama's massive body rather than just his face.

"Hello Kid," Kurama said. "I figured I'd see you soon."

"What did you do to me?" Naruto asked.

"First, it wasn't all me," Kurama said. "Your mother, my last Jinchuriki had a hand in it as well."

"What did you do?" Naruto repeated.

"You really are as impatient as her," Kurama said. "Fine, I'll start from the beginning."

THE END

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

_"Italics with quotations means conversations with Kurama."_

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History

12 years earlier

_"__So,"_ Kurama said. "_Are you ready to start?"_

_"__Yes," _Kushina said.

Kurama began using his chakra to shift Naruto into a more perfect Jinchuriki. The plan was that he would have heightened senses, the ability to communicate with animals, heightened stealth, even the ability to plan on a level never seen before. The process, however, would take a week and Kushina was due in a matter of days so Kurama had to work fast in order to get the change done before she gave birth. Speeding the process up would invariably kill the infant if it wasn't Kushina Uzumaki's son.

Kushina sat on the bed in Lotus position and entered her mindscape where Kurama was chained to a sphere of stone. It wasn't the most comfortable position but it was comfortable enough that Kurama was fairly content. Kurama began funneling his chakra into an image of Naruto in Kushina's womb and began using it to augment the child. Kushina was there to make sure he kept his word but also knew that he wouldn't risk angering her. After about an hour of watching Kurama closely, she finally went back to the real world and was slammed with labor pains.

"Crap!" Kushina said. "_Hurry up Kurama!"_

Kurama sped up to doing it as fast as he could just as Minato and several ANBU arrived. Kushina wasn't exactly sure how they knew she was in labor but it didn't matter. They took her away from the village so that Kurama wouldn't be able to destroy anything if he broke out. Kurama worked furiously to finish changing Naruto before the child was born. As the ANBU arrived at the area chosen for her to give birth, Minato returned to the village to tell the shinobi to be ready. The moment he was gone, however, a Fire Style jutsu killed all of the ANBU and a man in a long, black, hooded cloak and a yellow-orange mask with lines on the right side that looked slightly similar to a facial scar appeared. He walked over and smiled then used a seal to restrain Kushina and undid the seal. Kurama's chakra boiled out first forming his head. The moment Kurama looked at him, the man used a Genjutsu to place Kurama under his control then Kurama finished leaving Kushina and attacked the village.

Present

"I see," Naruto said. "So the process was never finished?"

"No," Kurama said. "And when you used my power, it continued but with less control. From now on, any time you use my power, you will be altered. I don't know what changes will be made but I fear that by the end, you may turn into a miniature me complete with no conscience at all. You will become a monster and you will kill anyone and anything that crosses your path."

"Could you take control?" Naruto asked.

"Possible," Kurama said. "But I could not return you to your own mind. You would, for all intents and purposes, be a tailed beast on a rampage. And no one would be powerful enough to stop you."

"I see," Naruto said. "Then I guess I'll need to use only my power."

THE END

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I'm changing the fight scenes from here on out a bit because I don't feel like rewriting them all.

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Desperation

Over the next few weeks, Naruto spent all of his down time training so that he wouldn't need Kurama's chakra. Eventually, Team 7 entered the chunin exams and Naruto had to try harder than ever before to not use Kurama's power. Then, during the second exam, they met a shinobi from the hidden grass. Naruto was busy in the belly of a snake and Sasuke and Sakura were fighting the shinobi. Naruto arrived just as Sasuke decided to hand over their scroll. Naruto intercepted it and refused to give up and the shinobi summoned an even bigger giant snake. The snake quickly smashed Naruto up through three branches and into another.

As Naruto fell back to the snake he saw only one option and reluctantly entered his feral state. He noticed a slight itch in his ears, a tickling sensation in his nose, a crawling sensation all over his skin, and his eyes felt irritated. He shook his head and flipped over smashing both of his hands into the snakes snout and sending it reeling backward throwing the shinobi off of it. The shinobi hit a tree and wrapped around it then stared at Naruto with amusement and excitement. Then she let the snake return to wherever she summoned it from.

"Well look at you," the shinobi said. "You're just full of surprises. Let's see how long you last."

The shinobi unwrapped itself from the tree and leapt at Naruto. Naruto met her in the air and punched her in the side of the face sending her flying but she wrapped her arm around him and when she landed she swung her arm like a whip and smashed Naruto into a tree hard enough to make the enormous trunk explode. Naruto stood after landing on the ground and ran up the tree at the shinobi but before he could reach her, she leapt to another tree then turned back and grinned as he leapt at her. She vanished in a blur and Naruto stopped against the tree and looked around. He realized that his sight was a lot sharper and that he could smell everything more clearly. Then he heard a twig snap and whipped his head in that direction in time to see a shadow flash between two trees a hundred yards away.

"Nice senses," Naruto muttered.

He listened more than he looked around and heard a twig snap a lot closer. As an experiment he tried using his sense of smell and was able to pinpoint the shinobi perfectly. The moment he did, he grinned. The shinobi was heading straight for him with a kunai and was moving quickly but near silently. When the shinobi was too close to change direction, Naruto leapt at her and spun smashing his foot into the side of her head sending her flying through four trees, the last of which collapsed on her. A moment later she rose from the ground beside the tree.

"Fine," the shinobi said forming a hand seal before the fingers on one hand lit with purple fire. "I grow tired of you. I think I'll end this. Five-pronged Seal!"

Naruto charged at her with blinding speed but before he could reach her, a clone suddenly rose out of the ground and restrained him. Then she drove her burning fingers into his stomach where the seal had appeared. The Nine-tails Chakra faded and Naruto's vision began to blur. As he exited his feral state, the shinobi smirked then the clone threw him. Then his vision faded to black.

THE END

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes means conversations with Kurama."_

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Clones Vs Corrupted Clones

Naruto sat bolt upright and looked around. He was sitting under a tree and Sakura and Sasuke were sitting a little ways away. Lee, Ino, Kiba, Neji, and Choji were there too and there were signs of battle but Naruto got the feeling it wasn't from them fighting each other.

"Good morning Naruto," Neji said.

Naruto nodded and Kurama said, _"You need to release the seal that freak placed on us."_

Naruto stood and said he had to use the bathroom then went off into the woods until they couldn't see him. He gathered chakra until the seal appeared then Kurama showed him how to release the extra seal. He freed it then let the seal fade and returned to the others.

"How was it?" Kiba asked sitting in a tree.

"Freeing," Naruto said smirking then plugged his nose when the smell of urine hit him so strong it made him gag.

He realized that he could see sharper than normal but didn't notice because that was how it was when he blacked out.

_"Don't worry,"_ Kurama said. _"No one will be able to notice your heightened senses."_

Naruto sighed and kept his nose plugged as he jumped up to sit beside Kiba.

"That stinks," Naruto said. "Especially now that I have heightened senses. Don't let Akamaru mark me okay?"

"Sure," Kiba said.

"Sasuke, Sakura," Naruto said. "We still got our scroll?"

"Not our first," Sakura said. "Orochimaru burned it. We got the Sound Ninjas' scroll, though."

"Then we need to go," Naruto said. "The tower is that way. We'll wait outside to take a scroll from whoever we meet."

"Agreed," Sasuke said.

They all went toward the tower and soon came to a wide path leading straight to it. After a few minutes, several clones dashed out of the trees and surrounded them. Then more and more spilled out until there were at least fifty. Naruto grinned and created the exact same number then all of his clones crouched in the same position Kiba used to fight.

"So," Naruto said. "Clone against clone. Let's get this party started."

His clones shot forward and began tearing into the other clones with their kunai and Naruto whispered to Sasuke where the real shinobi were. Then he turned to fight as hundreds of what he now knew were Water Clones spilled out of the trees to join the fight. Naruto himself entered the battle and used his claws to shred the clones. Sasuke darted through the fight killing a few clones then into the trees.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. "Come back!"

Naruto's last few clones were destroyed and Naruto himself retreated to stand beside Sakura.

"Now what?" Sakura asked.

"Now," Naruto said. "You close your eyes."

Sakura did as he said and Naruto crouched and entered his feral state. Hundreds more clones shot out of the trees and Naruto created four clones and all five Narutos ran into the clone army. They used their claws and easily began tearing the clones apart. The Naruto clones were destroyed and Naruto grinned. Then he sprinted forward and tore a clone into two pieces and slammed the halves into two more before they could turn to water. Then he spun and slashed the throats of twenty with his claws. Then he charged and released a huge burst of chakra that sent several clones flying. Then two clones kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.

He smashed into a tree and sent ten clones at the army of Water Clones.

"Hey buddy," You belong on the ground not in my tree," a high pitched voice chattered beside him.

He looked to the side and saw a squirrel.

"So I can talk to animals now huh?" Naruto asked himself.

"Yes," the squirrel said. "Now get out of my tree."

Naruto dropped to the ground just as his clones finished off the enemy's and he released them then exited his feral state. Sasuke walked out of the trees with the enemy's scroll a moment later.

"Well done Naruto," Sasuke said. "Sakura, you can open your eyes now."

Sakura did so and looked around. Then they all headed to the tower.

THE END

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I'm changing the outcome of Neji and Hinata's fight. If you don't like it, sue me. I have a very good reason for it if you can bare with the story.

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Semifinals

Naruto hopped over the railing landing in the ring across from Kiba and Akamaru. He made sure to memorize what they both smelled like so that he could pin point them if he lost track of them. Kiba crouched readying his claws and Akamaru growled. Naruto smirked and held his hands out beside himself showing his claws and making them look longer and sharper than normal. Then he stopped and stood up straight and sniffed.

He raised an eyebrow and looked around sniffing again. Then he turned and looked directly behind himself at Hinata. He looked back at Kiba and couldn't help but grin.

"What can you smell?" Kiba asked.

"Memories," Naruto said. "Emotions, both present and tied to memories. I can sense all of yours, pervert."

"What are you grinning about?" Kiba asked.

"I can sense hers too," Naruto said jabbing a thumb up at Hinata. "It's quite interesting."

"I see," Kiba said also grinning. "So, are we going to fight or talk about people memories?"

"I'm waiting on you," Naruto said.

Kiba smirked and crouched again then sprinted forward and leapt at Naruto swinging his claws. Naruto caught his wrist then swung Kiba like a club smashing him into the ground. He was impressed by his own strength and speed but apparently Kurama's chakra had made a lot more upgrades than he thought.

"Get lost!" Kiba said kicking Naruto back then stood in his usual crouch and Akamaru stood on his back. "Man Beast Mimicry!"

Akamaru was engulfed in a cloud of white smoke, and when it cleared, he was an exact copy of Kiba.

"You're gonna die Naruto," Akamaru growled.

"FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba shouted.

He and Akamaru began to spin forming two huge grey drills. The two shot at Naruto but he easily leapt over the attack and kicked Kiba in the back. He smashed into the ground again and Akamaru smashed into Naruto's stomach and smashed him into the ground. Then he turned back to a dog and jumped off. Kiba walked over and was about to give Naruto one last punch to knock him out but Naruto was gone.

"What the-" Kiba stopped when Naruto's foot collided with the side of his face and sent him flying out of the ring.

"You should pay more attention," Naruto said. "Scram mutt."

Akamaru ran over to Kiba and sat down.

"The winner is Naruto," the judge said.

Naruto smiled and jumped back up onto the balcony landing beside Hinata who blushed bright red.

"That was too easy," Naruto said. "By the way, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"S-sure," Hinata said still blushing and followed him out of the room.

Naruto and Hinata walked out of the building and the others waited patiently once they found out that she was supposed to go next against Neji.

"W-what d-did y-you w-want t-to t-talk a-about?" Hinata stuttered.

"Well," Naruto said. "The first thing is that recently I've gone through a few...changes. My senses are unparalleled, even by Kiba."

"O-oh," Hinata said. "T-that e-explains the c-claws."

"That's not all," Naruto said. "I can now smell memories. It's really hard to explain. I smell them but at the same time I can see them as if they were mine. And I can smell emotions. All of them."

Hinata's face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Hinata," Naruto said sounding heart broken and ashamed. "You could never have made a worse choice."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"There are...things, that you don't know about me," Naruto said. "Things that you would hate me for. I know you don't think that's possible. But it's true. You would hate me if you knew who I was..._what_ I was."

"Naruto," Hinata said taking his hand. "I would never hate you. I couldn't! You have always been there for me. Whenever I needed you, you were there. Even when we were young."

"I was just playing the hero," Naruto said. "And there hasn't been that many times that I protected you."

"Maybe that you realize," Hinata said. "Your determination not to give up in anything gave me strength. I may not be strong enough to kill a fly but you still gave me courage."

"You're not as weak as you think," Naruto said. "If you want, I'll try and train you after the chunin exams are over."

"Okay," Hinata said smiling.

Naruto smiled back then glanced up as Sakura walked out of the building.

"Hinata's up," Sakura said. "Against Neji."

Naruto nodded and Sakura went back inside.

"I can't beat him," Hinata said.

"Tell you what," Naruto said smirking. "If you do, I'll kiss you."

Hinata's face turned so red that it glowed but she smiled in spite of her embarrassment. Naruto smiled and walked inside and she followed. She walked into the ring and Neji stood across from her.

"You're late," Neji said taking a defensive stance.

"I had a good reason," Hinata said taking a stance of her own.

They both charged forward and Neji attacked first. Hinata blocked his attack and countered. Neji easily sidestepped it but Hinata had planned for it and Neji tripped over her foot. She placed her left knee on his chest and her hand at his throat.

"Yield," Hinata said.

"Why?" Neji asked then used a very powerful strike to hit her in the heart. "You're the one who lost."

Hinata fell backward and Neji stood.

"Give up," Neji said. "Or don't. Either way you'll die."

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted. "That's enough! Someone get in there!"

"Until she gives up, the fight isn't over," Kakashi said but Naruto could tell he agreed with Naruto.

"I won't give up," Hinata said standing. "Until my heart stops beating."

"Has it not?" Neji asked. "My mistake."

He move to strike her heart again but she swept his arm sideways then hit him in the neck not bothering with sending chakra. He stumbled back holding his throat then fell to his knees and began to cough. After a moment he stood just as Hinata hit him in the stomach with gentle fist and he collapsed unconscious. Then she fell and jonin moved forward to take both Hyugas to the hospital. Naruto went with them and the others continued deciding that Hinata was the winner.

THE END

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

_Italics mean thoughts._

_"Italics with quotes means conversations with Kurama."_

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Training

Naruto sat down and smiled down at Hinata. She was resting peacefully and Neji was resting a bit more painfully in the next bed.

"You did awesome Hinata," Naruto said quietly. "I knew you could do it."

"How?" Hinata asked opening her eyes. "How did you know I could beat Neji?"

"I had faith in you," Naruto said. "And I knew that you would try your hardest if I made that wager."

Hinata blushed again then her face fell.

"You were just trying to get me to win weren't you?" Hinata asked. "You don't really feel the same way I do."

It was more of a statement than a question and Naruto could understand why she would believe that. He leaned forward and kissed her. After a moment he pulled back and smiled at her.

"I do care about you Hinata," Naruto said.

"But," Hinata said. "I thought you liked Sakura."

Naruto looked out the window for a long while before saying, "Honestly, part of me still does. I honestly don't know why part of me cares about you but it does. Actually to be honest, it's about half of me. To tell the truth, the only reason I like Sakura is because she's pretty. With you it's not. Not that you aren't pretty!" he said hurriedly not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "It's just that with you there's more to it."

Hinata nodded understanding what he meant. He knew that he liked her and that it was for more than her looks but didn't have any explanation why he did. She smiled.

"You still haven't told me what it is that you think I would hate you for," Hinata said.

"You would," Naruto said. "And, I'm sorry. But I can't tell you."

"It's okay," Hinata said. "I can wait until you're ready to tell me. Even if you never actually tell me."

Naruto smiled and looked sideways to see Neji staring at him.

"How're your neck and stomach?" Naruto asked.

"Painful," Neji said. "I'm telling your father Hinata."

"I don't care," Hinata said. "He won't keep me from being with Naruto. And he won't think any more highly of you, snitch."

Neji rolled his eyes just as a nurse came in.

"Lady Hinata," the nurse said. "You are free to leave. He were able to heal you completely. Neji, you will need to stay a bit longer.

Naruto nodded and he and the nurse left and Neji rolled onto his side while Hinata got dressed. Then she and Naruto ran back to the building the fights had been in. The ring was destroyed and Rock Lee was being carried out on a stretcher. The Third Hokage was standing in front of the other victors.

"I'm glad you made it," Sarutobi said. "Now, the next section will not be held for a month. This way, the participants will be able to train before it begins."

Everyone nodded and they were dismissed.

"So," Naruto said. "Want to train together?"

"Oh, um, sure," Hinata said.

"Not yet," Kakashi said appearing beside them. "I have someone that's going to teach Naruto a special jutsu. Once that's done, you can use whatever time is left to train together."

Hinata nodded and Naruto sighed as Kakashi began to lead him away.

"I'll see you later I guess," Naruto said.

"Okay," Hinata said.

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_1 week later_

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Naruto sighed. He had successfully summoned a giant toad who had stopped their decent saving both of them.

"What is this?" the giant toad asked. "Where am I? What the hell are you?"

"I'm the nine-tails Jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "Unfortunately the demon's chakra has made a few changes to my body."

"I can see that," the toad said. "My name is Gamabunta. I don't follow anyone's orders."

"Nice to meet you too," Naruto said. "Get us out of this pit so we can talk."

Gamabunta leapt out of the pit and landed on top of the Hokage Monument.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "Now, I promise I won't summon you unless I absolutely need to but when I do, I need you to work with me. Okay?"

"Tell you what," Gamabunta said. "If you can stay on my head until sunset I'll agree."

"How about if I can knock you over using brute strength," Naruto said.

"Even better," Gamabunta said.

Naruto smiled and slid down Gamabunta's face then kicked him under the chin and sent him sprawling on his back. Naruto landed on his feet and one hand and smiled.

"Ow," Gamabunta said. "Impressive. I guess I have to keep my word now. Fine, when you summon me, you better have something worthy of my time."

"I will," Naruto said.

Gamabunta disappeared in an enormous cloud of white smoke and Jiraiya walked over.

"Impressive Kid," Jiraiya said. "Well, I gotta go. Good luck in the exam. Better luck with Hiashi Hyuga."

Then he was gone. Naruto yawned and smiled as Hinata arrived.

"Hello Hinata," Naruto said.

"How did you know?" Hinata asked.

"I told you, my senses are better than Kiba's," Naruto said. "So, ready to train?"

"I am but you're not," Hinata said. "You're exhausted. "You need to rest. We can start training tomorrow."

"Okay," Naruto said smiling. "But you're not getting out of training today. You have to destroy all three of my clones before you can go home."

He created three clones then turned and left. Kurama had told him about the information transferring properties of clones and Naruto was happy he did because now he would know if Hinata succeeded. Once Naruto was gone, Hinata took a defensive stance and one Naruto charged. She managed to avoid most of its attacks but a couple hit. She realized that they weren't trying to hurt her because she barely felt the hits. She managed to take the clone out after a few minutes and the next attacked. This ones attacks were a bit stronger but still not enough to hurt her. She managed to take that clone out a bit easier and the third attacked. Its attacks were fast and powerful but it attacked in the same exact way the others had so she was able to avoid or block all of its attacks until she managed to destroy it. She sighed and smiled then headed home.

Naruto grinned as his last clone was destroyed and waited until Hinata reached the bottom of the monument where he was waiting.

"Good job," Naruto said. "That was a lot faster than I thought it would be."

Hinata smiled and Naruto took her hand as they began to walk back to the Hyuga Compound. When they arrived, Naruto kissed Hinata and she kissed him back. After a moment, she pulled back then turned and walked into the compound. Naruto watched her go then walked back to his apartment. The next day he took a shower and brushed his teeth then got dressed and walked outside then sniffed the air. He smiled when he pinpointed Hinata on the Hokage Monument and could smell that she was nervous and worried that he wouldn't come. He smiled and ran to the monument then up the front to stop just behind Hinata.

"Hope I'm not late," Naruto said causing Hinata to jump.

"N-no," Hinata said blushing. "I-I'm early."

"Okay," Naruto said. "So, do you want to work on speed or accuracy first?"

"Um, speed," Hinata said.

"Okay," Naruto said walking over to a tree. "Pick a tree and hit it two hundred times as fast as you can using as much power as if it was an enemy shinobi trying to kill me."

Hinata nodded and took a defensive stance at a tree a couple feet away from Naruto. Naruto said go and both began hitting their trees as fast as they could. Naruto held his strength back so that he didn't break the tree and finished in exactly fifty seconds. Hinata finished three seconds later and the tree exploded at her last hit.

Naruto whistled then said, "Why don't you use that power all the time?"

"I don't want to hurt my friends," Hinata said.

"I can understand that," Naruto said. "Next is accuracy."

He set a target up on a tree a hundred yards away and handed Hinata a kunai.

She threw it and the kunai hit the target about an inch away from the exact center still in the bull's eye. Naruto pulled one of his own and threw it getting a perfect bull's eye from his heightened senses.

"I'm jealous," Hinata said.

"I'm not someone to be jealous of," Naruto said. "Either way. Let's see how good your reflexes are."

Naruto created five clones who surrounded Hinata and then Naruto gave her a blindfold. She put it on then took a defensive stance. One Naruto moved to attack purposefully scraping his foot on the ground so that Hinata would know he was moving and she spun sweeping his hand aside then hit him in the chest destroying him.

"No Byakugan," Naruto said.

"I'm not," Hinata said.

"Okay then," Naruto said.

Two Naruto's moved forward while Naruto created more clones. Hinata ducked under one of the Naruto's attacks but the other's had been a trip so Hinata tripped. She stood as three Naruto's moved in to attack. She managed to avoid two but again one of them tripped her. She landed on her back and Naruto stepped forward and knelt beside her.

"You okay?" Naruto asked.

"Fine," Hinata said.

_"__Can I improve her senses?"_ Naruto asked.

_"__No,"_ Kurama said. "_But they will become sharper the longer she uses them."_

Naruto nodded and walked back to the clones. Then they continued the training.

THE END

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Read and review.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Finals

Hinata waited silently as Naruto and his three remaining clones silently moved into position. Two clones moved forward near silently making sound only when their feet touch the ground and the slight whistling their attacks made. Hinata waited and when one moved to punch her and the other to trip her she blocked the punch then kicked the other clone in the face. It disappeared and Hinata hit the other in the chest with Gentle Fist. Naruto and his last clone both moved forward even more silently and Hinata waited. The clone moved to punch Hinata and she caught his arm just as Naruto moved forward to strike. Hinata blasted the clone then spun and knocked Naruto off of his feet pinning him to the ground.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "You've improved dramatically. How has your solo training been going?"

"Good," Hinata said. "I also trained with Shino and he helped me perfect a new jutsu."

"Cool," Naruto said. "Maybe Neji could train you too. I can't help you with your Byakugan or Gentle Fist. You've got another week so I think you should train with him."

"Okay," Hinata said. "What will you do?"

"I've got someone else I need to train with," Naruto said. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Hinata said. "I'll see you around."

Naruto hugged her and she smiled then turned and walked back to the Hyuga Compound. He also smiled then sat in lotus position and entered his mindscape.

"Hello Naruto," Kurama said. "I assume you're here to train?"

"I am," Naruto said. "Do you know any jutsus that I could stand to learn?"

"Hundreds," Kurama said. "But this one is a family heirloom of yours."

Images of the jutsu and the seal it required flooded his head and he smiled. He had no idea who his family had been but he liked the idea of being able to use the jutsu.

"Thank you," Naruto said.

"You're welcome," Kurama said. "Now let me out."

"Now that's funny," Naruto said then went back to the real world.

He stood and practiced placing and removing the seal without performing hand signs and after an hour, he could place the seal on anything from up to a hundred feet away. Then he placed a single seal and followed Kurama's instructions and immediately found himself standing on the side of a tree directly over the seal.

"Impressive Naruto," Kakashi said appearing beside him. "Even your father wasn't that accurate. Now try from a greater distance."

Naruto went to the other side of the village and teleported back to the seal and again was directly over it.

"Impressive," Kakashi said. "You're even better than your father."

"Who was my father?" Naruto asked.

"One of the strongest shinobi I ever met," Kakashi said. "I'm sure he would be proud of you."

"Wish I could meet him," Naruto said.

"So," Kakashi said. "How's your training?"

"Good," Naruto said. "I'm ready to fight whenever. I hope I fight Sasuke."

"I'm sure you'll have a chance," Kakashi said. "Anyway, I need to go so I'll see you later."

Naruto nodded and went back to training with his new jutsu. After a full week of training, Naruto met Hinata in front of the Hyuga compound then they headed to the arena the last part would be held in. The others were already present and Naruto and Hinata joined them in the center of the arena.

"If you ever wanted to piss off your dad," Naruto whispered to Hinata while grinning.

"True," Hinata said. "But I think it would be a bit more effective if we had to fight each other."

"True," Naruto said.

"The matches are as follows," The proctor said. "Sasuke and Gaara, Shino and Kankuro, Shikamaru and Temari, and Naruto and Hinata. Up first is Naruto and Hinata."

The others took their seats and Naruto and Hinata moved into their positions smiling. Naruto was interested in testing what Neji had taught Hinata and was excited to showcase his new ability.

"Begin!" The Third Hokage shouted.

Naruto and Hinata stood perfectly still while both waited for the other. Then Naruto smirked and stood pulling out a blindfold. He put it on and Hinata smirked.

"Oh come on Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Even Hinata could beat you when you're wearing a blindfold!"

"Don't count on it," Kiba said. "Naruto's gotten a lot of new tricks. Let's just wait and see."

Hinata slid her foot to the side and Naruto crouched a bit readying himself. Hinata waited for another moment then sprinted forward with speed no one but Naruto knew she had since she had built her speed up training with him. He waited until she was within range then swept her attack sideways and swept her feet out from under her but she landed on her feet and kicked him in the chest forcing him back enough fro her to flip onto her feet and prepare to move again.

Naruto stumbled back and rubbed his chest then readied himself as he heard Hinata step to one side then back the other way. Then she darted forward and jabbed at him using Gentle fist but he could hear the wind from her arms moving through the air and was able to lean out of the way of her attacks while backing up. Then he dropped to the ground as she set her foot down and kicked it backward tripping her. She landed beside him and he flipped up to his feet just as she sent another attack at him. He spun to face her as she pushed herself up and she smirked.

"Okay Naruto," Hinata said. "You can take the blindfold off. I think you're warmed up."

Naruto smirked and removed the blindfold then cracked his neck and summoned ten clones. Hinata took a stance with one foot behind the other, one hand at her side, and the other forming the seal of confrontation.

"Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Hinata said moving her arms all around herself in a blur.

Naruto, thanks to his heightened senses, could see that there were two chakra blades as thick as a hair extending from her hands. The speed she was moving her arms in made it impossible for anything to get through. Just to test that fact, all of the Narutos threw three kunai each and the chakra blades cut them all in half when they knocked them out of the air.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "Play fetch boys."

All of the clones leapt into the air and tried to catch her arms as they fell but she was moving so fast that they were unable to get to her before being shredded into a powder before they had the chance to disappear.

"Wow," Naruto said. "That is a very effective defensive jutsu."

"Who said anything about defense?" Hinata asked.

With that, she began to run full speed at Naruto. He paled and leapt away from her barely managing to keep out of her reach. He placed a seal on her back then smirked and waved to her before summoning an army of clones. One of them teleported to the seal and caught her arms before the smoke disappeared and when it did, it simply looked like there had been so many that one appeared behind her.

"How did you do that?" Hinata asked.

"Very well wouldn't you say?" Naruto asked grinning.

"Lame!" Ino yelled from the stands.

"Okay," Hinata said. "Then I guess it's time for my last jutsu."

He placed one foot behind the other with her feet about shoulder width apart but twisted to face Naruto. Neji smirked and sat forward in his seat to watch. Hinata placed her hands by her sides bent at sixty degree angles with her hands curled into fists. She channeled chakra into her hands and the chakra began to manifest in two blue lion heads.

"Gentle Step, Twin Loin Fists!" Hinata said running at Naruto.

Naruto knew that a direct hit would be devastating if not fatal so he launched himself sideways as Hinata first swung at him. She spun toward him swinging her other hand and Naruto ducked under it then jumped back when she swung her other. She jabbed at him and he dodged right again but the chakra hit his left shoulder and he went flying.

"Oh my god," Sakura said. "Where did she learn those jutsus?"

"She created the first training with me," Shino said.

"The second she created training with me," Neji said. "I must say, I'm not sure whether I'm happy or let down that Naruto wasn't hit."

Naruto stood groaning and holding his shoulder grimacing as he inspected the injury. It was burned but that was about it. He straightened up and gritted his teeth as Kurama's chakra healed it. He rolled his shoulder a couple times then sighed. His favorite jacket was ruined as was the shirt under it.

"Fine," Naruto said. "My turn."

He teleported to stand behind Hinata and tripped her pinning her to the ground. Hinata struggled but Naruto was smart enough that he placed a chakra scrambling seal tag on her neck so that she couldn't attack him with gentle fist.

"Yield," Naruto said.

"Okay," Hinata said then turned her head toward the proctor. "I give up!"

"The winner is..." the proctor fell silent as did everyone else.

Naruto had helped Hinata up then had kissed her. Her face was bright red but she kissed him back anyway. After a moment, she pulled away and smiled.

"Um...the winner is Naruto," the proctor finished. "Next up is Sasuke and Gaara."

"Sasuke is absent," the Third Hokage said. "His fight will be held last so that he has time to get here."

"Okay," the proctor said. "Then next is Shino and Kankuro."

"I forfeit!" Kankuro called.

"Oh for the love of..." the proctor said. "Fine. Then Shikamaru and Temari are up."

Shikamaru and Temari dropped into the ring and took their positions. Shikamaru started by throwing a few Shuriken and kunai at her while running around her and slowly inching closer. Temari blocked the weapons and after a couple seconds Shikamaru stopped and used his shadow possession jutsu but Temari jumped back and evaded his shadow until it stopped. She smiled and he sighed.

Naruto looked to his right to see Gaara walking to the waiting room and followed. Kiba also followed and they met Gaara leaning against the wall. Naruto stopped and stared at him suspiciously and Kiba did the same.

"Can I help you?" Gaara asked glaring right back.

"What are you?" Naruto asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Gaara said. "No human could heal from an injury so fast."

"I never said I was human but you aren't human either," Naruto said. "So I ask again, what are you?"

"I am the same as you but without the side effects," Gaara said.

"I see," Naruto said. "Which?"

"One," Gaara said.

_"Shukaku,"_ Kurama growled.

"Nice to meet you, Jinchuriki," Kiba said.

"I find that very prejudice," Naruto said.

"Sorry," Kiba said.

"My fight should be starting soon," Gaara said. "You should go and watch the last of your friend's fight."

Naruto glared at him for a moment then turned and walked back to his seat with Kiba. Just as they got back to their seats, Shikamaru caught Temari with his shadow possession jutsu then raised his hand.

"That's it," Shikamaru said. "I give up."

Everyone fell silent then started shouting.

"What?" Temari asked. "What did you say?"

"I used up all my chakra on that Shadow Possession Jutsu," Shikamaru said. "I'm good for about another ten seconds, that's it. Bummer, and here I'd already planned out the next two hundred moves in my head. But my chakra is running low. Anyway if I was to win this thing, it would just mean more work."

"The winner is Temari," the proctor said.

"Did Shikamaru just...give up when he had already won?" Naruto asked.

"I...think so," Kiba said.

"Up next is Gaara and Sasuke," the proctor said.

"Lord Hokage wants to wait ten more minutes," a shinobi said appearing behind the proctor before returning the the Third Hokage.

"There will be a ten minute reprieve," the proctor said.

As the ten minutes began to tick by, the crowd began to complain louder and louder until they were shouted at the top of their lungs.

"The time limit has expired!" the proctor yelled over the crowd. "Therefore I am officially calling this match-"

He stopped as a typhoon of leaves appeared beside him and Kakashi and Sasuke both appeared standing back to back. Everyone stared in shock. Sasuke and Kakashi seemed to have no care about the fact that they were late. They didn't seem to care about anything. Sasuke looked different as well. His bangs were longer and seemed extremely disproportionate. He also had black clothes now with elbow pads and his left arm was wrapped in bandages.

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi said. "You wouldn't believe the traffic."

"So you decided to show up after all," Naruto said dropping into the ring. "I thought you might have decided not to show up because eventually you would have to face me."

"So what about you?" Sasuke asked. "Did you win?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "Kind of ruing my jacket, though."

"Guess Hinata's a little too much for you to handle," Sasuke said. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

"Sorry if we kept you waiting," Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head. "But, um, how late are we? I mean, it's not like Sasuke's...well...disqualified or anything...right?"

"Like master like pupil," the proctor said. "Even down to your lousy sense of time."

"Well, what about it?" Kakashi asked.

"You know you were so late that we extended the deadline for you, twice in fact," the proctor said. "It's lucky for you we did because you just made it. No, he's not disqualified."

"Oh," Kakashi said. "That's a relief. You had me worried there for a minute. So we're okay."

He looked down at Sasuke then followed Sasuke's stare to Gaara who was staring back in a very creepy manor. Kakashi's skin crawled from the sight.

"Just make sure you don't lose to this guy," Naruto said.

"Got it," Sasuke said.

Naruto looked up at Gaara just as his lips curved up into a grin and veins began to spread on the edges of his eyes. Naruto doubted that anyone else could see it from this distance. Naruto sniffed and wrinkled his nose. Gaara smelled insane and clearly was. Not that Naruto could blame him after smelling his memories. They were at least as painful as Naruto's own memories, if not more so.

"Alright Gaara," the proctor said. "Come down here."

"Come on Naruto," Shikamaru said. "They don't need us here."

After a moment, Gaara turned and walked down the stairs meeting Naruto halfway. There were two shinobi blocking Gaara's path and they didn't look happy.

"You puny kids think this tournament is about you," one of them said. "But it's really about the people who bet on you, or against you, in your case. You see our master's got a lot of money on the other guy to win."

"Got it?" the other one said. "That means you gotta lose."

The cork plugging the gourd on Gaara's back began to twist and move out.

"Well?" the first shinobi said. "So what's it gonna be kid?"

Gaara remained silent with his eyes closed.

"Maybe he's too scared to talk, heh," the second said.

_No he's readying an attack idiot,_ Naruto said.

Gaara lifted his head and opened his eyes to the point that they seemed grotesquely large.

"Heh," the first shinobi said drawing a kunai.

As he did, the cork shot out and sand exploded out after it. As sand continued to stream out, the lights overhead exploded and the shinobi began to cower. Gaara began to breath loudly like there was something in his throat and the sand surged forward launching the first shinobi down the hall. The rest of the sand covered the hall around Gaara and the sand he had launched dragged the shinobi back to Gaara. Then it covered him and compacted until the shinobi had been crust into dust. Then the sand shot at the second shinobi. He turned and began to run away but the sand followed filling the hall behind him in an enormous wall. Just as the shinobi got clear of the hall, the sad wrapped around his leg then dragged him back into the hall. He was swallowed by the darkness in the hall but Naruto and Shikamaru both heard him scream and Naruto heard his bones break and then being crushed into powder.

They heard slow and calm footsteps moving toward them and Gaara stepped out of the shadows. Shikamaru stood frozen in a mixture of shock and fear and Naruto stared at Gaara his own hatred mirroring Kurama's. Gaara walked around to the top of the stairs then paused for a moment before continuing down the steps slowly.

Naruto placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder and he snapped back to reality and they returned to their seats to watch the match.

"Alright," the proctor said. "The rules for this match are the same as in the preliminaries. The match continues until one of you dies or admits defeat. However, I can stop the match, but that's solely my decision."

Gaara laughed a bit and Naruto could guess why.

_That's what you think buddy,_ Naruto said. _I'd like to see you try._

The proctor raised his hand then swung it down and said, "Begin!"

With that, he jumped out of the arena just as sand began to stream out of Gaara's gourd. Sasuke jumped back so that he would have time to react to any attacks. After a moment, Gaara gasped and pressed a hand to his head groaning.

"Please," Gaara said. "I beg you! Don't get so mad at me."

He smiled and began to quiver. Then he looked back up at Sasuke.

"Mother," Gaara said.

Sasuke stared at Gaara in confusion as sand continued to stream out of the gourd and form a cloud over Gaara.

"Earlier I..." Gaara said. "I know. I made you taste such awful blood. I'm so sorry. But this time...I'm sure that it will taste so very good."

Gaara suddenly doubled over gasping again and the sand fell to the ground around him. His breathing became ragged and he continued to gasp for breath for a few moments before leaning forward and dangling his arms.

Then he straightened up enough to look at Sasuke and said, "Come on."

The sand began to rise around him and rub against itself while swirling producing a loud roar. Sasuke and Gaara stared at each other for a moment waiting for the other to move.

"Here goes," Sasuke said pulling out two Shuriken and throwing them.

The sand moved in front of it and blocked the Shuriken and a sand clone formed holding the Shuriken. Sasuke began to run forward but the sand clone leaned back and his torso exploded into a wall of sand shooting at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped over the blast just as it crashed down where he had been a moment before. The clone looked up at him and threw the Shuriken and Sasuke threw two more to block the first.

As Sasuke landed, he kicked the clone's hands off then landed on his hand and spun away from the clone long enough to land on his feet and spun backhanding the clone's throat. His hand stuck halfway through, however, and the sand began to close around his wrist. He tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge so instead he smashed the clone's head with his other hand, destroying it. The sand from the clone exploded in every direction and Sasuke started forward again as the sand to either side began to rise again. He threw a punch forward and the sand moved to block his fist but Sasuke grinned then spun and vanished, reappearing a moment later behind Gaara.

Gaara turned toward him as memories of fighting Lee flashed through his head. Sasuke smashed his fist into Gaara's cheek before he could turn all the way around and Gaara's sand armor cracked as he flew away from Sasuke, the sand following. Both smashed back down and Gaara stood.

"So that's your sand armor huh?" Sasuke asked. "Come on."

The audience stared in wrapped silence and Gaara and Sasuke.

"Come on!" Sasuke repeated. "Well if you won't, I will."

Sasuke charged at Gaara who stumbled back a step then crouched raising the sand to defend himself. When Sasuke reached the sand, he blurred around behind Gaara. Gaara sent the sand at him but Sasuke spun out of the way and charged again. When he reached Gaara, he kicked him and sent him flying.

"What's the matter Gaara?" Sasuke asked. "Is that all you've got?"

Gaara stood with the sand forming up around him and his eyes closed.

"I'm going to tear off all of your armor," Sasuke said dashing forward again.

The sand around Gaara rose in a circle and Sasuke began to run around Gaara in a blur beginning to make a funnel. Then he flipped over the sand and ran at Gaara. He kicked him in the face then grabbed the front of his shirt and smashed his knee into his stomach then jumped back. Gaara fell to his hands and knees and began panting. No one made a sound. Not even the wind was still blowing.

Finally, after a while of simply staring at each other, Gaara put his hands together clasping his fingers with his pointer fingers extended upward and pressed together. The Sand began to rise then formed a dome around him.

Sasuke sprinted forward and threw a punch at the dome. The moment his fist was withing a foot of the dome, the side erupted with spikes. He stood there for a moment in surprise. His fist had made contact and he had avoided most of the spikes but the side of the dome had been so hard it had made his hand bleed.

After a moment he jumped back and the spikes sank back into the dome. Sasuke stared at it as blood dripped from his bloody knuckles. Naruto suddenly stiffened when he heard Gaara beginning to chant names of a jutsu's hand seals.

"Uh oh," Naruto said.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"He's going to try something," Naruto said.

Some sand began to swirl over the dome and formed an eye ball that Naruto assumed was so Gaara could see. Then Gaara began to chant again but this one was different, mainly because Kurama began to get agitated when he heard him.

Sasuke sprinted forward again and threw three kunai into the sphere then leapt over it and began to run at it from the other side. The spikes shot out at him and he avoided them then smashed his hand into the dome. The spikes retracted and he jumped back as they began to extend again. He tried to run at the dome again but the spikes began shooting out faster and he had to cartwheel sideways to avoid them. He jumped into the air and smashed his foot into the top with no effect and jumped off just before the spikes shot out. Sasuke looked more carefully at the dome and saw a single spot where the sand had come together that was slightly weaker than the rest of the dome.

Sasuke bent his knees slightly and raised his hand in front of his face then unclasped part of a strap on his left arm. Then he jumped back and up the wall of the arena. He stopped about at the top and made several hand signs. Then he grasped his left wrist and held his hand so that the palm was about an inch away from the wall. As he focused his chakra, a ball of lightning began to form in his hand.

When his Chidori was finished, he took off sprinting down the wall holding the inside of his elbow. As he neared the dome, the spikes shot out but Sasuke evaded them and slammed his Chidori into the dome. The Chidori blasted straight through the dome then into Gaara's left shoulder. Suddenly a splitting scream rang out of the dome.

"AAAHHH!" Gaara shrieked. "BLOOOD! IT'S MY BLOOOD!"

Sasuke tried to pull his hand out but it wouldn't budge. He quickly formed another Chidori and Gaara screamed again. Then Sasuke ripped his hand free and a grotesque, sand-colored, spiked hand was dragged out with it until it couldn't stretch anymore and let go. Sasuke fell to his knee clutching his arm and the hand began to retract into the hole in the dome.

Naruto stared in shock and a small degree of panic crept over him as Kurama recognized the arm.

Sasuke stared at the hole waiting for something to happen. A deep growl emanated from inside the dome and Sasuke could see something inside writhing around. Then an eye moved into view. The eye was completely black where it should be white and the pupil was in the shape of a four-point star with a yellow iris around it. The moment the eye focused on Sasuke, a horrible roar rang out from the creature. Then cracks began to spread from the hole until they covered half of it. Then it fell away into dust. As it did, it revealed Gaara as he was but with a wound in his shoulder. There was no sign of whatever Sasuke had seen. He was breathing heavily and looked a bit scared. He clutched his wound and blood seeped out over his hand.

Just then, white feathers began to fall and everyone began to fall asleep. Naruto felt his eyes get heavy but Kurama showed him what to do and Naruto released himself from the Genjutsu. Several other shinobi did the same and a moment later, the balcony where the Third Hokage and Kazekage had been sitting exploded.

THE END

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It took me five hours to write Sasuke and Gaara's fight so I don't want any negative reviews about it. still leave reviews though.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Gaara's True Power

Everyone that was awake stared at the balcony in shock it was only a smoke grenade so the ANBU at the arena all ran to the balcony only to find it empty except for the body of the Third Hokage's right hand shinobi. Temari and Kankuro both leapt into the ring and their captain retreated. Temari grabbed Gaara and all three ran. Sasuke instantly followed and Sakura was close behind him. Naruto was about to run but three shinobi in grey jackets, black shirts and pants, grey and black camouflage scarves, and black masks landed in front of him.

"Should have tagged one of them when I had the chance," Naruto said crouching. "Get out of my way!"

He darted forward but two of the shinobi caught his arms and the third kicked him back. He tagged the two that caught his arms and the third noticed.

"Scatter," the third said in a thick deep voice that oozed annoyance.

The two that were tagged darted sideways and Naruto teleported to one and killed him then to the other and did the same. He turned to go back to the third to see him less than ten feet away. Naruto was shocked that he had moved so quickly and silently that he hadn't noticed but it was too late to change it. The shinobi drew a kunai and moved to kill Naruto but before he could, Hinata hit him in the side of the head with the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists. His head splattered all over the walls.

"Gross," Naruto said. "Stay here."

He began to go after Sasuke and the others and Hinata was at his side within seconds.

"You're not going after them alone," Hinata said.

One end of the village exploded as a giant three-headed snake was summoned.

"I'm certainly not letting you go after that thing," Naruto said. "Let's go."

He sped up and Hinata matched his speed. They reached the forest quickly and three sound shinobi met them. One of them, was wearing the gauntlet Dosu had once worn.

"Ow," Naruto said grimacing and covering his ears.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"It's already painfully ringing," Naruto said. "As good as my senses are, one hit from that would leave me either deaf or in a coma."

"I'll handle it then," Hinata said. "You go ahead and get Gaara."

"I'm not going to-" The shinobi with the gauntlet suddenly appeared beside Naruto and smashed the gauntlet into the side of Naruto's head. Naruto screamed in agony and collapsed falling off the branch and Hinata hit the shinobi in the face with Gentle fist then caught Naruto and began to flee. Kiba and Akamaru appeared and quickly took down the other two shinobi then followed Hinata.

"Is he okay?" Kiba asked.

"I...I don't know," Hinata said. "His senses are so strong...I don't know."

Kiba understood since the gauntlet would have left him deaf if he had been hit with it.

_"Naruto!"_ Kurama shouted in Naruto's head. _"Up and at 'em brat! Go kill my brother!"_

He healed all of the damage Naruto had suffered and Naruto jerked awake and looked around. He wiped dried blood off of the sides of his head then stood.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Fine," Naruto said. "Hinata stay here. Kiba, protect her or I'll tear you apart."

With that, he jumped into the trees and disappeared. Hinata sat against a tree and sighed.

"Lucky bastard," Kiba muttered leaning against a tree and glancing at Hinata.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Nothing," Kiba said.

"Why is Naruto a 'lucky bastard'?" Hinata asked.

"So he found a way to improve your hearing, huh?" Kiba asked. "He's lucky because he went from being the village ignominy to being one of the strongest fighters here and dating one of the most beautiful girls in the village."

"Y-you...t-think I'm beautiful?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Kiba said. "It doesn't take a genius to see it. The thing I disapprove of is that Naruto is with you. He doesn't deserve you."

"Are you jealous?" Hinata asked.

Kiba opened his mouth to respond but fifty sound shinobi appeared around them before he could.

Naruto landed on a tree beside Sasuke, who was barely conscious, and Sakura who was injured.

"Enough Gaara," Naruto said. "I'm your enemy now."

Gaara smiled and stepped out from behind the tree that had been hiding half of his body. Naruto raised an eyebrow and crouched to attack. Gaara's entire right side had mutated. It was now the color of sand with a roughly raccoon shape. His right eye was completely black with a four-pointed star shaped pupil and a gold iris. His gourd was partially connected to the sand-colored skin and he had a tail as big around as the tree he had been hiding behind and three times as long as his body.

"You want a fight," Gaara said. "Bring it on."

Gaara leapt at Naruto faster than Naruto had expected but Naruto kicked his enormous mutated hand aside then spun and smashed his other heel into Gaara's temple. Gaara went flying and Naruto flashed around and stopped in front of him just in time to smash his fists into the top of his head and he crashed into the ground. Gaara stood and began to cackle. Naruto watched as Gaara hunched over and the sand-colored skin grew until it covered everything except his feet. His other eye mutated to match the others and Naruto smirked. He placed a seal on Gaara's shoulder and jumped at Gaara just as his chest felt like it was imploding. He realized what it was immediately and teleported back to Hinata. There were dead shinobi everywhere and Kiba was sitting against a tree with Akamaru laying beside him. The seal that Naruto had placed on Hinata was now on the ground and Naruto had no clue why.

"Seal transfer jutsu," Kurama said. "Someone knew you were coming."

Naruto looked around and sniffed and smelled a single puddle of blood that was Hinata's. He instantly tore off running following Hinata's scent until he reached a clearing where Hinata was standing unsteadily and holding her left arm. Her sweatshirt was shredded on the ground and hanging from a tree and there was a shinobi standing across from Hinata that was holding a maul the size of a Saint Bernard and covered with more spikes than Naruto could count. Naruto could smell the shinobi's memories and understood that he was an accomplished fighter and was so fast with his maul that Hinata hadn't been able to get past it and had been wounded trying.

Naruto dashed forward and the shinobi swung his maul in a blur and Naruto did a back flip and created three clones who all charged. While the shinobi swung his maul around in a blur Naruto placed a seal on his back.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Fine," Hinata said. "Clones."

Naruto looked back just as the last of the clones was destroyed.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "My turn."

He crouched and the shinobi got ready then Naruto teleported to the seal and slashed the shinobi's throat with his claws. Then he caught the maul and smashed it into the shinobi's corpse pinning him to the ground.

"Thank you," Hinata said. "Go. I'll be fine."

"Kiba's about thirty meters west," Naruto said before leaving.

He traveled as fast as he could and quickly returned to where he had been fighting Gaara. Sasuke and Sakura had engaged Gaara again and just as Naruto arrived, he stuck them to a tree with sand.

"Welcome back Kurama child," Gaara said.

"Shukaku bitch," Naruto said. "Ready to continue?"

Gaara leapt at Naruto and Naruto blocked one hand then flipped over and kicked Gaara in the forehead. Gaara slammed into the ground and rolled over just as Naruto smashed the ground where he had been. Gaara smashed Naruto away with one arm and Naruto crashed through four trees before stopping. He stood and ran back creating fifty clones. The clones swarmed Gaara while Naruto freed Sasuke and Sakura and gave them both a food pill. Once the pills had taken effect and they could stand on their own again, Naruto sent them to Hinata and Kiba.

"Okay Gaara," Naruto said. "If this is all you have, then this will be too easy."

Naruto placed a seal on Gaara's back along with all over the rest of his body and the surrounding area and the clones and Naruto began teleporting around. They teleported far too fast for Gaara to keep up so he began swinging his arms around himself as fast as he could an every couple of seconds he would destroy one of the thirty remaining clones. Suddenly all of the Narutos teleported just past Gaara and slashed him mid-teleport. Gaara screamed as blood flew into the air and stumbled. He smashed three clones and Naruto smirked. Gaara stumbled into the trees and Naruto began to follow when he sensed something powerful and evil. Then an enormous column of smoke easily a half mile wide shot into the air and two glowing yellow eyes appeared in it.

"He's huge," Naruto said staring.

"Wind Style, Air Bullet!" a voice in the cloud shouted.

A moment later a hole opened in the cloud and a huge ball of chakra infused air hot out at Naruto.

"Oh shit," Naruto said.

He began to run but before he even had time to take his first step, the blast hit and exploded sending everything flying. When Naruto landed, he felt a large number of his bones threaten to break and stood.

"Great," Naruto said wiping some blood off of the corner of his mouth. "One hit and I'm already almost out of chakra. Summoning Jutsu!"

He set his palm against the ground and an enormous cloud of smoke shot up around him too. When it cleared, he was standing on the head of a giant toad with a blue happi vest and a huge dosu blade on his waist.

"Wow," the toad said sounding annoyed. "You would summon me to fight Shukaku."

"Just kill it," Naruto said putting a food pill in his mouth.

Gamabunta leapt into the air and Shukaku shot three balls of air at him. Gamabunta shot three balls of water back and the blasts exploded against each other. Gamabunta began to fall toward Shukaku so he drew his blade. Just before he hit, Shukaku blasted him and he flew backward.

"Don't crush my friends!" Naruto said as Gamabunta landed.

"Give me a break," Gamabunta said. "I'm fighting a tailed beast."

Naruto looked at Shukaku and saw that Gaara was rising out of his forehead. He stopped when his torso was out and his arms were dangling.

"Perfect," Naruto said. "I need to get to his forehead."

"I'll get there," Gamabunta said.

"Just shoot me there," Naruto said.

Gamabunta put Naruto in his mouth then spit him into the air and Naruto sailed through the air toward Shukaku.

"Wind Style, Air Bullet!" Shukaku said and shot a blast at Naruto.

Naruto created a hundred shadow clones to block the blast but it destroyed them from the immense wind in front of it before it could hit them. Then it crashed into Naruto and exploded sending him flying again. Gamabunta caught him and Naruto groaned.

"We can't beat him by trying to get past his attacks," Gamabunta said. "We need a joint transformation jutsu. Think fangs and claws."

"I know just the one," Naruto said then switched to talking to Kurama. _"I need __some chakra but only just enough to turn me and Chief Toad into you."_

He felt Kurama's chakra fill him and made the hand seal.

"Double Transformation Jutsu!" Naruto said and he and Gamabunta were covered in a cloud of smoke.

A moment later, they leapt out in the form of Kurama. Naruto took most of the control and began slashing and tearing at Shukaku and Shukaku tried to hit him with anything he could but couldn't hit them. Then Gamabunta took over and grabbed hold of Shukaku then released the transformation jutsu. Naruto landed in front of Gaara and jumped as sand tried to catch him. Naruto landed directly in front of Gaara and used the last of his chakra to force his forehead into Gaara's. Gaara blacked out for a moment and Shukaku fell away as sand and Gaara and Naruto crashed down as Gamabunta returned to wherever he had been summoned from.

"Gaara!" Kankuro said as he and Temari landed beside him.

"Damn," Naruto said seeing them. "Guess I...still...have to...deal with you."

The others in the Konoha 11 arrived just as Naruto began dragging himself toward Gaara with his right arm since his left was severely broken after his fall.

"How...can you...continue?" Gaara asked.

"I won't...let you...hurt...my friends," Naruto said dragging himself froward and biting back a scream of pain every time. "I...will...protect...everyone...no matter...what."

"Then...it's love," Gaara said. "You are so strong for love. Temari, Kankuro...I want to go home."

Temari and Kankuro stared at him for a moment then at each other.

"Okay," Kankuro said.

He picked up Gaara and Temari helped him then they both left. Naruto, who had been pushing himself up, collapsed and Hinata and Kiba both landed beside him.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Fine," Naruto said. "Is everyone else okay?"

"They're fine," Hinata said. "Come on, we'll take you to the hospital."

She and Kiba picked him up and they left. When they reached the hospital, medical ninja healed him then told them that the Third Hokage had been killed. Naruto sent a clone to make sure the others knew and then he, Kiba, and Hinata all went to their houses to change into something appropriate for funerals.

THE END

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	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Meeting

Three days after the funeral, The Konoha 11 met in the forest to hang out as well as to discuss Naruto's new found power.

"I think it's awesome," Choji said voicing his opinion on Naruto and Hinata's relationship and skill at the same time.

"No it's not," Neji said. "Hinata's lucky that Hiashi's too mad to keep from disowning her the moment he sees her to yell at her. As for her and Naruto's power, I must say I'm jealous."

"You?" Naruto asked. "And here I thought the all powerful Neji would have nothing to be jealous of."

"Honestly, I didn't think you could beat Gaara," Neji said. "The fact that you did proves that you're as stubborn as I thought. It also proves that I was wrong about you. When Hinata beat me, I understood that even weak people could be strong when they needed to be. Then when she trained under me I saw her become incredibly powerful. I still didn't believe you could be strong, however. I saw you as nothing more than a buffoon who would always fail, even after you beat Hinata. I thought that she had simply not tried her hardest due to her feelings for you. I was wrong about you. You are truly a great shinobi. I apologize for being so rude. Hinata, that goes double for you."

"Wow," Naruto said. "I forgive you but I'm surprised you're apologizing. I thought at most you would only hint at it. Glad I was wrong."

"I knew he would," Tenten said. "Neji's a lot nicer than you people give him credit for."

"No I'm not," Neji said. "And I don't need fan girls."

"Trust me," Naruto said. "If you have them, keep them. It's a bitch to try to get new ones."

"Only because you were trying to get one away from Sasuke," Neji said. "What did you expect? He had half of the academy the first day."

"True," Ino said.

"Guys," Kiba said. "I need to test Naruto's senses. Please step back."

"You're going to get your butt kicked," Hinata said jumping into a tree.

"We'll see," Kiba said.

He and Akamaru dropped to the ground with Naruto while the others all jumped into the branches above. Kiba crouched and Naruto mirrored his position and Kiba grinned.

"I'm not testing your reflexes," Kiba said.

Naruto's eyes widened just as Akamaru leapt into the trees then jumped into the air spraying urine all over the place. Naruto staggered backward narrowly avoiding getting hit and plugged his nose. He bumped into a tree and gasped. His hands moved to his throat as he began to choke on the smell and Kiba pulled out a dog whistle. Before he could blow it, Hinata landed beside him and grabbed the whistle then shut down his chakra network temporarily and Lee carried Naruto away from the area so that he could breathe again. Hinata and the others caught up and found Naruto vomiting violently while plugging his nose against the smell of his puke.

"I hate my senses," Naruto said.

"Can't you dull them at will?" Neji asked.

"I wish," Naruto said. "Then I would kick Kiba's ass. Why'd he try to kill me anyway?"

"Not a clue," Tenten said.

The others all shrugged except Hinata. She looked scared, ashamed, and angry all at once.

"Oh well," Naruto said. "Can you guys go get me something to eat?"

"Sure," Choji said.

"Not you," Naruto said. "You'll eat it on the way back."

Everyone else left except Choji and Hinata. Choji understood why the others had been told to leave and walked off. When he was gone, Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Why'd he do it?" Naruto asked.

"He's...jealous," Hinata said. "He doesn't think you deserve me."

"I see," Naruto said. "He'd better not be dumb enough to tell anyone."

"Tell what?" Hinata asked.

Naruto was silent for a while then said, "I'm sorry. I can't tell you."

"That's okay," Hinata said. "I understand."

Naruto smiled and kissed her then pulled away when the others arrived with three bowls of ramen each.

"You guys know me well," Naruto said.

"We'd better," Ino said. "We grew up around you, like it or not."

"Funny," Naruto said.

"She's right though," Sasuke said. "You're annoying."

"Just give me my food," Naruto said.

They all set his food out and Naruto created shadow clones to help him eat it. It had the same effect as eating it normally but didn't take nearly as long.

"Much better," Naruto said.

"Pig," Choji said.

"That makes us kin," Naruto said.

Everyone laughed except Choji. After a few minutes they stopped when Kiba walked out of the trees and glared at Naruto.

"If I have to fight you for her I will," Kiba said.

"You don't need to fight me," Naruto said. "If you don't, she'll stay with me. If you do, you'll die and she'll stay with me. There's no need for you to throw your life away."

"You honestly think that I'm afraid of you?" Kiba asked. "I called this meeting to kill you and I'm going to do it."

"Little tip," Naruto said. "You'd have had better luck if you had set it up to be just you and me."

"They're here to witness me kicking your scrawny little copy cat ass," Kiba said.

"He's going to tear you limb from limb Kiba," Sasuke said. "Believe me. You're screwed if you fight him."

"Enough!" Hana Inuzuka said landing between Kiba and Naruto. "What the hell do you think You're doing Kiba?"

"Stopping a monster from-" Kiba began but stopped when Naruto's fist collided with the side of his jaw.

"And I thought Orochimaru had a big mouth," Naruto said. "Why don't you just shout it out for the entire fucking village to hear."

"Naruto!" Hana said. "You're not helping. I'll handle my brother."

"Don't waste your time," Naruto said. "Give me three seconds and he won't be a problem ever again."

"I said I'll handle him," Hana said. "You need to leave or-"

She stopped suddenly and stiffened and they all saw why. Kiba had walked up behind her and drove his claws into her back. Naruto growled as his temper began to rise. He could feel Kurama's chakra beginning to rise but forced it back down as Kiba ripped his claws out and Hana fell. Naruto caught her and handed her to Hinata who left carrying her to the hospital.

"You're dead," Naruto said letting Kurama's chakra spike. "Why the fuck did you attack your sister?"

"She was in my way," Kiba said. "No one is going to stop me from killing you. I told you that."

Naruto's eyes turned red and his pupils elongated and he lowered himself into a crouch mirroring Kiba's. He felt his ears and eyes get irritated again like they had when he had gotten his senses improved and hoped he was simply gaining more control over them.

Kiba sprang forward and Naruto rolled back onto his shoulders then kicked him into the air. Then Naruto leapt after him and grabbed him by the throat. Kiba stabbed his claws into Naruto's chest and grinned but it faded when Naruto didn't react.

"My turn," Naruto said as they began to fall.

He suddenly blurred into motion around Kiba and began hitting and slashing him from every side. Then, just as he smashed Kiba into the ground Hinata stepped out of the trees. Naruto exited his feral state before she could notice the difference and stepped back from Kiba.

"Is he..." Hinata began.

"He's alive," Naruto said. "He's lucky too."

Naruto spit on Kiba then turned stormed through the trees away from the others. Hinata followed knowing that Naruto was a lot more angry than he seemed. The others took Kiba to the hospital and tried to think of a way to explain what happened to Kiba and Hana's mother.

Naruto sat down on the edge of the Hokage Monument and stared at the destruction that had been done to the village.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"No," Naruto said. "I lost my temper. I hurt Kiba worse than I wanted to. I shouldn't have hurt him at all. And the village was destroyed because I didn't stop Gaara and their plan sooner."

"You didn't know this would happen," Hinata said. "It wasn't your fault."

"I should have checked his memories," Naruto said. "If I had I could have stopped him."

"You're human," Hinata said. "No matter what you are human."

_"She clearly hasn't learned mush about me,"_ Kurama said.

Naruto stared at the Hokage Tower for a while then looked over at Hinata.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "No matter what happens, I know that you won't give up for me."

"Naruto," Jiraiya said appearing behind them. "We have to go. We're going to find the next Hokage."

THE END

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	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Sorry this Chapter is shorter than the last couple. I wanted to focus on just this fight because the next will be more important.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

_"Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Sannin

Naruto sat up and stretched then looked around. Shizune was sitting beside him asleep.

"Shizune," Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Shizune said. "Are you okay?"

"Twenty four hours of sleep and I'm fine," Naruto said. "Where are the others?"

"They went to meet with Orochimaru," Shizune said.

"You've got to be kidding," Naruto said jumping up.

He jumped out the window and ran toward the sound of explosions. He had met Tsunade about six days ago and had instantly hated her. The feeling had been mutual and she had made a bet with him that if he could master the Rasengan within a week she would give him her necklace. He had had no luck mastering it but didn't really need it, in truth.

After about three minutes he arrived to see Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru having a stare down.

"Nice of you to join us Naruto," Jiraiya said. "How are you?"

"Ready to tear a snake apart," Naruto said.

"How are you up?" Tsunade asked. "You should be bedridden for days."

Naruto grinned then crouched preparing to fight just as Kabuto appeared beside Orochimaru.

"You again," Orochimaru said. "Kabuto, deal with him."

Kabuto took a single step forward before Naruto's knee crashed into his stomach. Naruto's most recent upgrade was an extra speed and strength boost as well as being able to control his senses.

Kabuto flew backward and crashed into a large rock causing it to explode. Then Naruto spun and smashed his foot into the side of Orochimaru's head at the same time as placing a seal for his teleportation jutsu on the side of his head. Orochimaru went flying and Naruto smirked still balancing on one foot.

"I see," Orochimaru said. "You've been upgraded by him. I must say, I like those powers of yours."

Kabuto suddenly appeared and swung a kunai at the back of the base of Naruto's skull and Naruto caught his arm and slammed him into the ground then formed an imperfect Rasengan and smashed it into Kabuto's stomach. Imperfect or not, it still shot Kabuto twelve feet deeper into the ground.

"That's quite a powerful failure," Orochimaru said. "You've been training him well Jiraiya."

"Let me show you how well," Naruto said holding one hand at his side and the other over it.

He formed a perfect Rasengan and Orochimaru prepared to avoid him but he teleported to Orochimaru's side and slammed the Rasengan into his stomach before Orochimaru knew he had moved.

"How the..." Tsunade began but stopped herself.

"Recognize the jutsu?" Jiraiya asked.

"Both," Tsunade said. "Looks like he really is his father's son."

"Think he can handle Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes," Tsunade said. "Easily."

Naruto created five clones and covered the area around Orochimaru with seals then he and his clones began teleporting around as they had with Gaara. Orochimaru didn't bother trying to attack them at first. He simply began coughing up a sword. Once he had it all the way out, he picked it up then spun cutting all of the Naruto clones in half. Then Naruto appeared and smashed another Rasengan into his back. Orochimaru went flying and dropped his sword. Naruto picked the sword up and released all the seals on the ground and grinned.

"What's...so...funny?" Orochimaru asked standing.

"Missing something?" Naruto asked resting the sword on his shoulder.

"You think you can fight me with my own sword?" Orochimaru asked.

Naruto teleported to Orochimaru and impaled him on the blade then smirked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I do."

He released the sword and walked back to Jiraiya who smiled.

"Impressive," Jiraiya said.

"Where did you learn that teleportation jutsu?" Tsunade asked.

"Does she know?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Jiraiya said.

"Kurama taught it to me," Naruto said.

"I see," Tsunade said.

"Impressive brat," Orochimaru said rising out of the ground as his clone fell away leaving the sword.

Naruto sighed and turned to face him but Tsunade and Jiraiya stepped between them.

"We'll take it from here," Tsunade said.

"We'll handle our old friend," Jiraiya said.

"Good," Naruto said. "I'll go finish off Kabuto then."

Naruto walked over to Kabuto who was beginning to drag himself out of the hole he had been in.

"You won't kill me," Kabuto said smirking.

Naruto smiled then snapped Kabuto's head around backward. He looked to his left just as the three Sannin summoned their respective contract subjects. Manda shot toward Gamabunta but he leapt into the air landing a short ways away. Katsuyu spit acid at Manda who managed to move out of the way barely avoiding the acid. Then Gamabunta's blade pierced his snout pinning his head to the ground.

"Now then," Jiraiya said. "Shall we Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya leapt at Orochimaru but Orochimaru wrapped his neck around his waist before he could get there then flipped backward and slammed him into the ground. Jiraiya tried to stand but collapsed feeling several broken ribs. Orochimaru retracted his head just in time for Tsunade's fist to connect with his jaw. He went flying and crashed into Gamabunta's stomach then bounced back to Tsunade who hit him even harder. Orochimaru flew away again and Naruto teleported to him and smashed him into the ground.

"Sorry," Naruto said. "I wanted to hit him really badly."

"No harm done," Tsunade said. "To me, at least."

Naruto picked up Jiraiya and carried him back to Tsunade then turned as Orochimaru stood and looked around to see Kabuto's corpse.

"You killed Kabuto," Orochimaru said. "Fine."

He stretched his neck around Gamabunta's sword and pulled it out.

"Manda," Orochimaru said. "We're leaving."

Manda swallowed Orochimaru then disappeared in an enormous cloud of white smoke.

"So," Naruto said. "Will you be the Hokage now?"

"Yes," Tsunade said. "I'll be the Hokage now. After Jiraiya's healed."

"Whatever you say Medical Ninja," Naruto said.

Tsunade smirked then knelt and healed Jiraiya as fast as she could. Then she and Naruto headed back while supporting an unconscious Jiraiya. When they got back to the hotel Tsunade and Shizune had been staying at, they dropped Jiraiya on one of the beds then Tsunade headed to the bar.

"She really likes Sake, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Shizune said. "I doubt she could make it a week without it."

"She might have to as Hokage," Jiraiya said cracking one eye open. "When we headed home?"

"Soon as you're ready and she can walk again," Naruto said.

"In that case," Jiraiya said standing. "I'm off to the hot spring."

"Perv," Naruto said. "Don't make me beat you."

Jiraiya paled slightly but walked out of the room calmly anyway. Naruto smirked then sat in the window sill and looked out and up at the sky.

"You know," Shizune said. "You're stronger than the three Sannin."

"I'm not human," Naruto said. "Not fully. It doesn't really count. Besides. It's just my teleportation jutsu that lets me be that fast. Who was my father?"

"I'm sorry," Shizune said. "It's not my place to tell you."

Naruto nodded then decided to go eat while they waited for the others. When he reached the restaurant, he found Tsunade sitting at the bar with a half empty bottle of Sake and three drunk men trying to convince her to go to bed with them.

"Beat it," Tsunade said.

"Come on," one man said. "You'll love it."

"She said beat it," Naruto said. "Now."

The men saw Naruto and moved to hit him but they tripped over each other before they could take one step forward.

"If you're going to attack a shinobi, sober up first," Naruto said. "Tsunade, you need to stop drinking so that you can travel without any more of a hangover."

Tsunade sighed but put the bottle down and nodded then headed back to her room. Naruto got a plate of pasta then sat in the corner to eat. When he was done, he got himself and Jiraiya a room so that they could sleep before they left. Then, he went to fetch his perverted master.

THE END

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Read and review. Fair warning, there is a time skip between this chapter and the next.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. WARNING: HINATA IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING VERY BAD AND YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT. HAVE FAITH THAT THERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON AND SEND A REVIEW WITH THE REQUEST AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, I WILL EXPLAIN HINATA'S ACTIONS. PLEASE DON'T QUIT ON ME YET.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Complete

Naruto stood at the ready as the rest of the team filed in. He, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru were being sent to retrieve Sasuke who had been taken by a group called the Sound Four. The shinobi were supposed to be incredibly powerful and dangerous. Aside from that, there wasn't much information about them aside from the fact that they massacred a group of leaf village shinobi who stumbled across them.

"Naruto," Tsunade said. "Your priority is Sasuke. If you can, kill the enemy shinobi but don't get hung up fighting. Understood?"

"Yes," Naruto said.

"And you and Kiba had better get along or you'll both be sent back to the academy," Tsunade added.

"Yes ma'am," Kiba said.

"Dismissed," Tsunade said.

The team left and immediately went after the Sound Four. After about an hour, they found their first trap. It was a tripwire and Naruto nearly stepped on it due to his mind being completely on tracking Sasuke and him not paying much attention.

"Naruto stop!" Neji said catching Naruto's foot. "You have to watch for traps too."

Naruto nodded and let his senses climb to their max.

"Three miles of tripwires," Naruto said. "Some obvious but better hidden ones below. Perimeter tags after that, one mile around with one centimeter safety zone in the middle. Non-explosive. Fire, maybe. Sound Four resting about three miles past the far side of the perimeter."

Neji nodded and they headed off as fast as they could with Naruto showing them how to go around the traps. When they reached the tags, they skirted around and Naruto informed them that the Sound Four was moving again. Finally, they caught up with the Sound Four and a fat male member with orange hair in a strip on top and each side trapped them in a dome of stone that began to drain their Chakra.

"You want our chakra huh?" Naruto asked. "Here have some."

He blasted the wall with a Rasengan and it exploded outward. The team stepped out and Naruto got ready to fight.

"You guys go on ahead," Choji said. "I'll handle him."

"You sure?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Choji said.

"Good luck," Naruto said.

He and the rest of the team went on ahead without Jirobo trying to stop them. As they ran, they heard an explosion signaling the beginning of the fight.

"You think he'll be alright?" Kiba asked Shikamaru.

"I don't know," Shikamaru said. "But right now we have to get moving."

Just as he said this, Naruto stopped and the others did as well except for Kiba who plowed headlong into a giant spider's web getting stuck instantly.

"What is this?" Kiba asked.

"You like my web?" the six armed male member asked crawling out of the trees on the web like a giant spider. "It's at its maximum level so you can't possibly escape."

"Neji," Naruto said. "Gentle Fist."

Neji jumped past Kiba and cut the web with Gentle Fist. Then he landed on a tree branch on the other side with Kiba.

"Byakugan, huh?" Kidomaru asked. "I may have to change the difficulty of this fight."

"You guys go," Neji said. "I'll handle him."

"Shikamaru," Naruto said placing his hand on his shoulder and tagging him. "You're first."

With that, he threw Shikamaru and he and Akamaru followed. As Naruto had expected, Kidomaru spit web at him and began to pull him back. Naruto teleported to Shikamaru and the web stayed behind.

"Impressive trick," Kidomaru mused. "Fine. I'll take you."

He leapt at Neji as Naruto and the others continued.

"There are four of them and five of us," Shikamaru said. "What luck. Did you leave a seal at the village?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "Once I get Sasuke I'll teleport back to the village then back to you."

"Okay," Shikamaru said.

They continued to run and soon caught up with the other two. Naruto kicked the girl away before she could do anything and the other activated his curse seal. Shikamaru and Kiba continued to run with Akamaru and Naruto grabbed Sasuke's carrier then teleported to Shikamaru and they continued running.

"Get out of here Naruto!" Shikamaru said.

"I know," Naruto said.

He concentrated for a moment then his eyes widened and he did a face palm.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"Some one moved my seal," Naruto said.

"Where?" Shikamaru asked.

"You don't want to know," Naruto said. "I'm not going there."

"Fine," Shikamaru said. "Then what do we do?"

"You guys go on ahead," Kiba said. "I'll draw him off. Once you're clear double back to the village."

"Kiba," Naruto said. "Good luck."

Akamaru jumped into Kiba's arms and he transformed into Sasuke's container then Kiba branched off and Sakon followed.

Hinata moved as fast as she could. Almost an hour ago, she had suddenly felt that Naruto was in danger. She had gone to Tsunade's office and Tsunade had told her that she had sent Naruto to retrieve Sasuke. Hinata had then left the village to try and catch up with Naruto.

She was beginning to tire but knew that Naruto needed her help. She had to save him from whatever she was feeling. She didn't feel like he was going to die only that he was going to cease to be himself.

Just as she landed on a branch, a black hand shot out from behind the tree and spun her around. She saw an orange spiral design mask and a blood-red eye from inside the only eye hole, then nothing.

Naruto and Shikamaru continued for a bit to make sure they weren't being followed. Sure enough, the girl caught up with them. They stopped to fight her but she froze.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked.

Before either could figure out what was going on, a shinobi with grey hair and a light purple shirt dropped out of the trees and landed on the container then flipped off of it and kicked the container away then caught it and landed on the branch.

"Tayuya," Kimimaro said. "You've taken too long. Orochimaru is not pleased. I leave them to you."

With that, he picked up the container then turned and ran.

"Go," Shikamaru said. "I've got her."

Naruto nodded and ran after Kimimaro. Kimimaro stopped in a clearing after a time and Naruto landed just beyond the trees.

"Hey freak!" Naruto said. "What does Orochimaru want with Sasuke?"

"Simple," Kimimaro said. "His soul is immortal but he needs a healthy new body before his can decay. When Sasuke's is of no further use, he will need another. That, is Orochimaru's goal. So, how should I kill you?"

As he spoke, a bone spike grew out of his shoulder. Naruto created a hundred shadow clones then he and his clones all crouched and readied themselves to attack.

"One chance!" all of the Narutos said. "Give us Sasuke and you can leave."

Kimimaro stared at the one he was certain was the real Naruto silently.

"Fine," that Naruto said.

All of the others charged and leapt at him. As they got close, they slashed at him and he blocked the attacks with the bone spike then killed them. The spike had sharp edges like a blade and easily cut through the clones. Each time a clone attacked, however, they tagged Kimimaro. Finally he finished the clones and looked down to see his new tattoos.

"I see," Kimimaro said making hand signs. "I know that seal. Seal Repellant Jutsu!"

The seals all shot off of him and then faded. Naruto tried to tag him but the moment the seal touched him it did the same thing.

"Fine," Naruto said. "We'll do it the fun way."

He created more clones and they all charged at Kimimaro who grew a bone blade out of his other palm and smirked. When the Narutos were in range, he spun cutting all but the reach one in half. The real one ducked under the blade and tried to block it with his claws but it cut them off easily. He jumped back and threw several Shuriken at Kimimaro and Kimimaro cut the Shuriken in half.

"What the..." Naruto said.

_"Let me help," _Kurama said.

Naruto sighed and created more clones then charged forward. Kimimaro began shredding clones easily and quickly and Naruto entered his feral state as a last resort.

"Let's try this again," Naruto said charging at Kimimaro as his claws regrew.

He slashed at Kimimaro who blocked it with his bone blade but Naruto's claws didn't cut.

"What?" Kimimaro said. "Fine."

Kimimaro drove his other bone spike up at Naruto's stomach. Naruto jumped back then crouched.

"Good," Naruto said. "Shall we?"

He shot around Kimimaro in a blur then smashed his foot into Kimimaro's head then slashed him. Then he rolled around Kimimaro as he turned to fight Naruto and Naruto tripped him. Naruto jumped to his feet narrowly avoiding Kimimaro's blade. Kimimaro stood and activated his curse seal.

"Okay Naruto," Kimimaro said. "Let's see you handle me with this."

He pulled his shirt down off his shoulder on the left side then pulled a bone sword out of his arm. Naruto saw his arm hang limp then Kimimaro regrew the bones in his arm and pulled his shirt back up. Then he sprinted forward and swung at Naruto's neck but Naruto slashed the blade away with his claws then swung back. Kimimaro jumped back to avoid Naruto's claws and Naruto followed slashing in a mobile blur Kimimaro avoided Naruto's attacks and blocked a few then suddenly swung back. Naruto sidestepped the blade but it cut his arm and Kimimaro smiled. Naruto got ready to fight him when Sasuke suddenly exploded out of his container and took off running.

"Go Naruto," Gaara said landing on the edge of the field. "I will handle Kimimaro."

Naruto was curious about Gaara helping but turned and ran after Sasuke. After about fifteen minutes he caught up with Sasuke at a valley spanned by a single wooden bridge. Naruto caught Sasuke by the arm and Sasuke spun around and kicked him sideways. Naruto landed on his feet then stood and smirked.

"Seriously," Naruto said. "I took down Gaara when he was strong enough to kick your scrawny little ass. You think you can match me?"

"Let's see," Sasuke said.

He activated his cursed seal then charged at Naruto. Naruto avoided his first few attacks then caught Sasuke's hand. Sasuke kicked him and Naruto went flying then landed on his feet and grinned.

"Impressive," Naruto said.

Naruto crouched and charged at Sasuke as fast as he could. He slashed at Sasuke's stomach but Sasuke leapt over him and kicked him away. Naruto stumbled a few steps then spun around just as Sasuke drove a Chidori into his heart. Sasuke jumped back and Naruto stared down at the hole in his chest.

"Not so tough now are you?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto entered his feral mode and the hole filled itself in. Then Naruto looked up at Sasuke and Sasuke saw that his eyes were red again.

"I'm dragging you back to the village even if I have to break every bone in your body," Naruto said.

Naruto shot forward and smashed his knee into Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke flew away and landed on his feet on the nearby lake. Naruto ran out onto the water after him and Sasuke charged to meet him. Naruto punched Sasuke back and Sasuke flipped over and kicked Naruto into the air. Naruto fell into the water and Sasuke stood.

"Too easy," Sasuke said.

Just then, clones exploded out of the water and began smashing Sasuke further and further into the air. Then one jumped off the shoulders of another and grabbed Sasuke. Another grabbed Naruto's ankles and Sasuke saw that the Narutos had formed a human tower. Hey swung back then swung forward even faster and smashed Sasuke into the cliff.

"Fire Style, Dragon Flame Jutsu!" Sasuke said blasting the Naruto at the top of the tower then the fire traveled down the tower burning all of them.

The clones all disappeared and Naruto fell smashing into the rocks on the beach and bouncing into the water. As he began to float away, Sasuke sighed.

_"You useless piece of meat,"_ Kurama said.

He began to pump his chakra into Naruto and Naruto could feel his entire body exploding into pain. The pain was most severe in his tailbone and two spots on top of his head. His claws grew an inch and his teeth grew half an inch, then a fox tail shot out of his tailbone tearing a hole in his pants and two fox ears sprouted on top of his head. Then he stood and immediately doubled over in pain.

As Sasuke watched, Naruto, who had simply been floating dead in the water moments before, rose to one knee as a tail and ears shot out of him. Then red chakra began to boil from his skin all over his body. Then, the chakra solidified into muscle, then skin, and finally grew fur. The tail separated into nine then Naruto, now a miniature Kurama, looked at Sasuke.

"Naruto?" Sasuke tried while entering his Cursed Seal level two form for the first time.

Naruto hunched over in pain as he grew a snout becoming a perfect scale model then looked back at Sasuke and roared. The sound was much deeper than his size would suggest and suddenly Naruto was in front of Sasuke. Sasuke jumped back but Naruto was behind him before Sasuke had realized he moved and Sasuke slammed into his chest. Sasuke spun around and leapt out of the hole he had made but Naruto was already gone. Sasuke turned around just before Naruto's fist crashed into his face and sent him flying. He had smashed into the ground before his eyes were even completely closed. He plowed through the ground for a mile then flew into the air and bounced for another three. When he finally stopped, he was barely able to move but looked up because there was a shadow over him. What he saw, turned his blood cold. Naruto was standing over him grinning, somehow. He raised his hand holding his fingers together so that he could stab Sasuke with his claws.

"Na...ru...to," Sasuke said then coughed up blood.

Naruto roared and raised his hand up in a blur and then began to drive it downward. He froze with his claws pressing against Sasuke's back. Sasuke looked around past his feet and saw Hinata standing in the distance. She was wearing a black cloak with red clouds and he leaf village headband was around her neck outside the cloak with the leaf scratched out.

"Naruto," Hinata said. "So this is your secret. You're a monster, you know that? I don't know what I ever saw in you. If I had known you were suck a freak I never would have dated you. I would have killed you. I'll rectify that mistake now."

She held her hands at her sides forming two lion heads out of chakra then dashed forward. Naruto stepped back from Sasuke but just stood there.

_"Naruto!" _Kurama shouted inside the empty shell that was all that remained of his host. _"Move damn it! Why the hell can't I take control?"_

Hinata drew closer and swung at Naruto's chest. He turned sideways and she stumbled past then spun and swung at him again. He sidestepped her attack again as a tear rolled down his cheek. Then, he fell to his knees as fur began to fall away. Hinata charged again and this time, smashed both fists into Naruto's chest. The lion heads exploded and he flew backward leaving a trail of chakra, flesh, and fur in his wake. He came to a stop as his old self body and clothes mostly intact from transforming into a mini Kurama but with the tail and ears still present. He didn't move an inch even as Hinata walked over and created another lion head. This one she slammed into his head and when it exploded, Naruto smashed fifteen feet into the ground. He still lay perfectly still, his head and upper body badly burned and his shirt and jacket blown apart. Hinata smirked then turned as a man in a matching coat as hers and an orange spiral design mask stepped out of thin air in front of her.

"Well done Hinata," the man said in a deep, gravelly voice. "You killed the most dangerous living thing in the entire world. Now, we should get Sasuke to Orochimaru before returning to the others, don't you think?"

He walked over and picked Sasuke up then walked back over to Hinata. She placed a hand on his shoulder then they disappeared.

THE END

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Read and review. I will not update again until someone give me a list of pairings they would like to see in later chapters. NF15617, I'm sorry but you don't count for this but I would still love your input. I have been told that the story was ruined when Hinata attacked Naruto. The only thing I can say is that you should focus on the person she met along the way. Incase you don't know, it's Tobi(Obito Uchiha)


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Recovery

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. Sakura was sitting on one side, Tenten on the other, and the others remaining in the Konoha 11 were around the bed. Neji was leaning against the wall directly in front of Naruto and Kiba was pacing a short distance away. Several jounin that Naruto was friends with were scattered around the room and Kakashi's favorite book was laying on an end table closed and forgotten while Kakashi found a way to look worried even with his mask.

"I'm sorry," Tsunade was saying. "From what I can tell, he may never wake up. The damage done to him was beyond anything I have ever seen."

"But he's been recovering," Lee said.

"I know," Tsunade said. "Physically he has been recovering. But...I have no idea if he's anything other than an empty shell anymore."

"You guys are all worrying for nothing," Naruto groaned pushing himself up a bit so he could look around better.

"Naruto!" Sakura said resisting the urge to hug him. "Are you okay?"

"In pain," Naruto said looking around and noticing a single person was unaccounted for. "Where's Hinata?"

"What do you remember?" Kakashi asked.

"I remember that Sasuke and I were fighting and he blasted me with a fire type jutsu," Naruto said. "Then I remember pain. Then nothing."

"You've been unconscious for over a month," Kakashi said. "After Sasuke blasted you, the Nine-tails' chakra took control and you somehow a miniature version of him. You beat Sasuke to the brink of death and would have finished him if Hinata hadn't arrived. You froze when you saw her then she attacked you. I was afraid she killed you. By all rights she should have. Then someone else arrived and then teleported both her and Sasuke away."

"Hinata...attacked me?" Naruto asked fearing it was because of what he was.

"Yes," Tsunade said. "She has left the Hidden Leaf. She's joined a group of shinobi known as the Akatsuki. The same group that wants your...friend."

Naruto stared at her for a moment then reach up and felt his ears. His heart fell as he realized that everyone now probably knew who he was.

"We don't care," Tenten said. "No matter what's inside of you or what you look like, you're still you."

"Who was the other guy?" Naruto asked looking at Kakashi.

"We don't know," Kakashi said. "We've never even heard of him. For all we know, he could be a Hyuga, Senju, anything."

"Uchiha?" Naruto asked.

"If he comes from a family that branched off a very long time ago, yes," Kakashi said. "In theory."

"So we have no idea what he can do?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kakashi said.

"Naruto," Neji said. "I know you're going to go after him. So let me just say this before you do. If you go now, you'll die. But if I know anything about Hinata, it's that she would never attack you...of her own free will."

Naruto nodded and smiled at his statement.

"Naruto," Tsunade said. "Your body is barely able to move. You can't go anywhere."

Naruto took a deep breath then swung his legs to the side and pushed himself up onto his feet. Luckily Naruto hadn't gotten his pants removed in the month that he was out.

He stumbled once he was up and began to fall but Neji caught him.

"You can't stand," Neji said. "You're not going alone. I'm going with you."

"So am I," Sakura said. "Tsunade's been training me as a Medical Nin so I can help you recover."

"You don't need to," Naruto said. "I'm going to go home and get cleaned up then sleep for about another twenty four hours and finally train for an hour before going after that asshole."

"And you think you'll be healed by then?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "Neji, care to take me home?"

Neji smirked and shook his head but helped Naruto out of the room and back to his apartment. Then he went home and the others did the same. Twenty four hours later, Neji, Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were sitting in a tree watching a fully recovered Naruto train. He had several clones attack him with anything and everything they could. He even let them teleport to attack him while he did his best to avoid or block their attacks and counter. He had yet to be hit once but he also had yet to be able to hit one of them. Whatever change he had gone through had made him as strong and fast as he had been while fighting Sasuke in his Feral State.

"Naruto," Neji said. "Just so we're clear, Hinata would never attack you. If it was really her, she was brainwashed by whoever this guy was."

"I know," Naruto said. "I'm going to save her."

"Naruto," Shizune said landing beside them. "Lady Tsunade would like to see all of you before you leave."

Naruto nodded and they all went to Tsunade's office.

"Ah, Naruto," Tsunade said. "There's been a development that...complicates your mission. The Village Elders decided not to trust you and sent a full platoon of ANBU shinobi after Hinata. I'm giving you a fair warning. They already left so if you intend to go after her, you will need to move fast. If you happen to run into the ANBU and Hinata is present, you won't be able to avoid a confrontation. Try to reach her first."

"Sure," Naruto said. "I'll be back in a flash."

He placed a seal on her desk and she nodded then he and the others left. They left the village instantly and traveled as fast as they could to the Valley of the End. Naruto raised his senses of smell and sight to their max and did the same with his sense of hearing. He had had Kiba test his sense at its max and had found out that he was now immune to extremely high frequency noises now. As they traveled, Kiba kept throwing glares at Naruto and Naruto was starting to get annoyed.

Finally he stopped and the others stopped around him forming a circle around him and Kiba since they all knew full well why he was stopping.

"You know," Naruto said back to Kiba. "We don't need you on this mission. I only let you come because I know how you feel about her. But the moment you become more trouble than you're worth, I will personally do the same thing to you that I did to Sasuke, and he barely managed to last three seconds before ninety percent of his bones were broken."

"Don't worry," Kiba said. "You're the boss, Freak."

"Kiba," Neji warned.

"No, no," Naruto said turning around. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"Okay," Kiba said. "Hinata's the most beautiful and perfect girl in the world."

"Agreed," Naruto said.

"I'm not going to let you get within a hundred feet of her again," Kiba said. "She's too good for a filthy hanyou!"

Everyone stood in silence as they waited for Naruto's reaction. Naruto stood still as a statue glaring at Kiba. Then he leapt at Kiba and drove his stomach into Kiba's stomach before Kiba could react. Kiba flew backward and crashed into a tree and Akamaru went to help his partner while all of the others continued to the Valley of the End. When they arrived, they found the ANBU looking around for any clue where Hinata and the masked man went.

"Sup everybody?" Naruto asked landing in the middle of the shinobi. "Any idea which way they went?"

"Hanyou!" someone shouted.

"Calm down!" the ANBU leader said. "It's Naruto Uzumaki. No. We have no idea where they went but we're going to use a jutsu to pinpoint her location and then we'll go and end her. Go home kid."

"You're not going to hurt her," Naruto said. "Besides, I know how to find her."

"How's that?" the ANBU leader asked.

"Simple," Naruto said. "All I have to do, is point and run and I'll meet her part way. You see, once she learns I'm alive, she'll be after me."

"Then we'll use you as bait," the leader said.

"I dare you to try," Naruto said crouching.

He placed as many seals as he could on ever shinobi around himself and the area inside his range. The shinobi instantly backed away.

"All of you go back to the village or you die," Naruto warned. "I'm _not_ letting you hurt Hinata. This is your only chance to give up. If I see you again, you're all dead."

Then he and his friends all took off. The Anbu waited exactly thirty minutes then began to follow them.

"You know they're following us right?" Neji asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I'm going to kill them when they make their move."

He sniffed once and smiled. Then he turned East and sped up. The others were hard pressed to keep up but that was fine because they knew they would not be needed to apprehend Hinata.

After another three minutes they left the trees and began running through a huge field until they reached a huge rock with a huge metal gate on the front. As they arrived, the gate opened and Hinata and one other person stepped out. The person wasn't wearing a black robe with red clouds like Hinata was but he was clearly no friend of theirs.

He was about six foot five with red hair, mustache and beard which tapered off to a point. He was wearing a large headpiece consisting of a three pointed crown-like ridge, bearing both his Iwagakure forehead protector, a ring, and a prominent black piece of armor running across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He wore a long-sleeved light-red shirt and pants, with a mesh-armor shirt and fitted black suit underneath, along with calf-length sandals. Around his waist he wore a brown sash that held a brown armor-like breast plate with a pouch in the front, a brown back plate that was connected to the front with mesh armor, and armored lapels falling to the sides.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Come back to the village peacefully and we can skip the fight plus the ANBU won't have to die trying to kill you."

"You really don't get it do you?" Hinata asked. "My master Tobi has opened my eyes to the truth. Roshi, kill them."

Roshi took a single step forward then stumbled back with a bleeding gash in his chest from Naruto's claws. Naruto turned toward Hinata but she slapped him and he stumbled back a step more from surprise than anything.

"I'm not going to bother trying to kill you again," Hinata said. "You're not worth it. Just get out of my life."

Hinata turned to leave and Naruto placed a seal on her back. The seal then shot off of her and faded.

"Nice try," Hinata said.

She took another step and Neji stepped in front of her to stop her but Naruto grabbed his arm after appearing beside him and shook his head. Hinata smirked then left and Roshi began to follow. Naruto watched them go then smirked.

"I placed a tracking seal inside of him when I scratched him," Naruto said. "We can follow them easily."

"We're supposed to take her back to the village," Neji said. "You could restrain her easily."

"I know," Naruto said. "But I want Tobi's head on a pike. She serves him so she must meet with him eventually."

"So we follow them?" Neji asked smirking.

"Correct," Naruto said.

"You let them go!" the ANBU leader shouted as he and his platoon arrived.

"We're going to track them so that we can find a bigger target," Naruto said.

"You're a traitor!" the leader said. "KILL THE HANYOU! DEAL WITH THE OTHERS AS YOU WISH!"

All of the ANBU shinobi leapt at Naruto but he placed seals on all of the ones that attacked him as he avoided their attacks. Once he had tagged all of the shinobi as well as about a mile around, he stopped and grinned while his friends vacated the circle of seals forming a slaughter house.

"What are you so smug about?" the leader asked.

"Look around," Naruto said.

He did and for the first time since the chaos began, he noticed all of the seals.

"I warned you to give up," Naruto said crouching. "Now, you all die. You really should have listened."

With that, he began teleporting around the slaughter house slashing the shinobi all over their bodies. His claws were about four inches long so the slashes ranged between two and a half inches deep to four inches deep. When he finally stopped and stepped out of the slaughter house, the corpses littering the ground were all so maimed and shredded that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the next began. There was blood all the way to the edge of the circle but Naruto had been so fast that he was perfectly clean. The leader was the only one not completely shredded. In fact, he wasn't even injured. Naruto had pulled him out of the circle with him and the leader was now kneeling in front of him.

"I'm sorry!" the leader pleaded on the edge of tears out of sheer terror.

"So am I," Naruto said. "I hate killing people from my village. But that's okay. Because you threatened the love of my life."

With that, he drove his hand into the leader's stomach and ripped out his intestines. Then he shoved it into the leader's throat causing him to choke. Then he turned and he and the others began to follow Hinata and Roshi.

"That was a little cold," Neji said.

"Our mission is to recover the love of my life," Naruto said. "What would you have done if they had threatened Tenten?"

Neji was silent for a time then said, "I would have torn them apart."

Naruto nodded and the others also understood how he felt. They all had someone they would do anything to save. That's why they were going to do whatever it took to help Naruto.

THE END

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Read and review. If you read to this chapter you now know why Hinata attacked Naruto so please don't complain about her actions anymore. You should also know who the main enemy will be. If you don't know yet, you're slow. That's okay though. It's Tobi.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Lucky Streak

Naruto and his team landed on top of a large rock and looked down on the scene below them. They had been following Hinata and Roshi for about four days and were now nearing the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Naruto had a feeling he knew why but also knew that there was a very good chance that Tobi would be meeting up with them soon.

"Why are they here?" Neji asked.

"Yugito and Killer B," Naruto said. "According to Kurama, they are both Jinchuriki. Roshi is also a Jinchuriki so we can't risk a prolonged battle against them."

"Okay," Neji said. "Maybe you should go find them."

"Yes," Naruto said. "Kurama says that I should find Yugito first because that's where they're heading so you guys keep tabs on them and keep me updated."

He handed Neji a communicator and put his own on then took off. About five minutes later he was standing in front of the door to Yugito's house.

"You won't find her here," someone said behind her. "She's away on a mission."

Naruto turned around to see a tall black man with white hair and clothes and a square case on his back holding seven swords.

"Killer B," Naruto said. "I assume you can guess who, and what, I am."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Killer B said. "Jinchuriki, now hanyou, of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox Kurama."

"And you are the Jinchuriki of Kurama's favorite sibling, Gyuki," Naruto said. "Nice to meet you. Kurama was really hoping to see Matatabi again."

"I know," B said. "Gyuki still laughs about it. It's probably a good thing that the Tailed Beasts really aren't related. Otherwise...Anyway, Yugito is on a mission to renew our peace treaty with the Hidden Sand Village. She should be back inside of a week."

"Well then you need to go warn her not to trust any Jinchuriki other than you and me," Naruto said. "At the very least Roshi is being controlled by the Akatsuki and I am afraid others may be as well."

"So that's why he's here," B said. "He requested an audience with A, our Raikage."

"Then he's an assassin," Naruto said. "You need to leave, I'll handle Roshi."

"Okay," B said. "What about the girl?"

"I'm going to take her back to my village," Naruto said. "I only pray her boss shows up before I do."

B nodded then left. Naruto pressed the talk button on his communicator but only got static.

"Great," Naruto said.

He ran to the Raikage's residence and found Roshi standing in the remains of the destroyed doorway and the Raikage kneeling on the ground in the middle with Hinata standing over him. Hinata had been the one fighting the Raikage, not Roshi.

"Where are the Jinchuriki?" Hinata asked.

"Look behind you!" Naruto shouted.

Roshi turned to fight him but Naruto's fist crashed into his face crushing his nose and making the metal strip crumple into his face. Roshi flew backward and smashed through the wall on the other side of the room.

"Not so fast Naruto," Hinata said pointing upward.

Naruto looked and saw his teammates all pinned to the ceiling by black chords.

"Let them go Hinata," Naruto said. "I don't want to hurt you."

"But I _do_ want to hurt _you_," a deep gravelly male voice said behind Naruto.

Naruto jumped and spun around planning on kicking the man in the face. The problem was that his foot passed straight through the man's head.

"What?" Naruto asked landing and backing away.

"And you thought you were so tough a second ago," Tobi said. "I'm Tobi. It's good to see you again Kurama."

_"YOU!"_ Kurama shouted. _"That's the fucker that caused me to not be able to finish upgrading you! That's the fucker that's responsible for you turning into a hanyou!"_

Naruto grinned and crouched preparing to fight.

"I've been looking for you," Naruto said. "Now you're going to pay for causing my parent's deaths. You ruined my life now I'm going to ruin you."

"Try it," Tobi said.

Naruto leapt forward and Tobi stood perfectly still as Naruto passed through him. Naruto grinned as he placed a seal on Tobi's back. Then he landed and grinned.

"Your turn," Naruto said. "I want to test my speed."

Tobi shrugged then blurred into motion toward Naruto. Naruto teleported to the seal and stabbed his claws into Tobi's side then tore them out shredding a good amount of Tobi's flesh in the process.

_"How did you know he was solid when he attacked?"_ Kurama asked.

_"He can't hit me if he's not solid,"_ Naruto said.

He smiled and crouched again as Tobi staggered sideways then turned to face him.

"Fine," Tobi said. "Let's try this. Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He fired several small balls of fire at Naruto and Kurama flashed a jutsu through his head. Naruto smiled and, since it required no hand seals, simply held his hand out.

"Beast Wave Gale Palm!" Naruto said.

Wind in the form of a demonic hand formed over his then shot at Tobi while expanding. When the hand hit the fire balls, it became a funnel of searing hot flame heading toward Naruto but Naruto had planned for it and the funnel was big enough that it simply went around him.

"Impressive," Tobi said. "Fine, no more playing around."

Tobi blinked and a portal opened over him and dropped a pair of katanas. He tossed one to Naruto then sprinted forward. Just as he swung at Naruto, Naruto teleported to his seal and slashed Tobi on the way by. Tobi screamed then disappeared and his katana landed on the ground. Naruto tossed his aside just as Tobi reappeared a short distance away.

"Genjutsu are fun for messing around but don't work on me," Naruto said. "Especially when it's just a sight and hearing trick. Let Hinata go. Even if you don't, I'll just free her myself."

"You can't free her, and I won't," Tobi said. "She's mine. Accept it."

"Fuck you," Naruto said. "Time to go home Hinata."

Naruto freed his friends then walked over to Hinata and teleported them all back to the Leaf Village. Then Hinata tried to escape. Naruto released her Seal Repellent Jutsu then tagged her and let her run. When she was almost to the edge of the village, he teleported to her then teleported her back to Tsunade's office.

"Don't bother trying to run Hinata," Naruto said. "I will always bring you back."

Hinata nodded and Naruto walked her to the interrogation building where Inoichi was waiting to try to free her. They restrained her then Naruto sent a clone to talk to Kakashi. Naruto figured that it would be good to have a plan B in case Inoichi couldn't do it.

"Well," Kakashi said. "There's a kunoichi from the Hidden Lock Village that was able to look inside her mind and erase or rearrange memories at will. If Inoichi can't help Hinata she definitely could. I would start with her village. If not, then you should just come back and I will look for her myself. Her name is Hanare."

Naruto's clone nodded then ran off toward the Lock Village. Naruto himself stayed with Hinata to keep Tobi from taking her back and to make sure she didn't try to run again.

"I'm sorry," Inoichi said after thirteen straight hours of working to free her from Tobi's control. "The jutsu is too strong. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Naruto said.

Just then, Naruto's clone walked in with Hanare. Naruto had met Hanare when she had arrived at the village between the second and third parts of the Chunin Exams so he smiled when he saw her.

"Hello Naruto," Hanare said. "It's good to see you again."

"But not as good as seeing Kakashi again right?" Naruto asked grinning.

Hanare blushed but smiled and walked over.

"This is her?" Hanare asked.

Naruto nodded as he released his clone and looked at Hinata who was glaring at him like she wanted nothing more than to tear him apart, which may have been true.

"I'll see what I can do," Hanare said.

She closed her eyes and Hinata suddenly looked distant. Then she closed her eyes and slumped in her restraints and fell asleep. Hanare opened her eyes and smiled.

"Done," Hanare said. "She's free."

"Wow," Inoichi said. "I'm jealous."

"A lot of people are," Hanare said.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "You don't know how much it means to me."

"You're welcome," Hanare said. "Besides, I owed you for being the first one to welcome me to the village."

Naruto nodded then had an idea and teleported to Tsunade's office.

"What?" Tsunade asked without looking up.

"Can you allow Hanare to stay here and become a Leaf Village Shinobi?" Naruto asked.

"Why would I let a spy live here?" Tsunade asked.

"Because she saved Hinata," Naruto said.

"What?" Tsunade asked shock clear in her voice. "I honestly didn't think it was possible. Wow. That's still not enough to allow her to stay."

"Then have Kakashi figure out if she would ever tell anyone our villages secrets," Naruto said.

"You really trust her don't you?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," Naruto said.

"Fine," Tsunade said. "She can stay. As it happens, I already know she's loyal to this village."

Naruto smirked then went back to tell Hanare Tsunade's decision.

"The Hokage says you can stay if you want to," Naruto said.

"You, convinced your Hokage to let me become a Konoha shinobi?" Hanare asked.

"You saving Hinata was more valuable than me welcoming you to the village," Naruto said. "So I owed you. Now we're even."

Hanare threw her arms around Naruto and half-cried, half laughed a 'thank you'. Then she let him go and he smiled then looked past her and his smile widened. She looked around and saw Kakashi standing in the doorway.

"I heard you were now officially allowed to become a Konoha shinobi," Kakashi said. "I remembered something you said so I just wanted to say, welcome home."

Hanare stared at him in silence as tears rolled down her cheeks then she ran forward and threw her arms around him. He hugged her back and Inoichi grinned.

"And here I thought Kakashi didn't have a heart," Inoichi said loud enough for Kakashi to hear.

Kakashi was about to say something but Hanare kissed him through his mask and he was too surprised to think of anything to say or even remember what Inoichi had said.

"I remembered that you hate taking off your mask," Hanare said after pulling away.

"You want to see what's under my mask?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh here we go," Naruto said rolling his eyes.

Hanare giggled at Naruto's reaction then nodded.

"Okay," Kakashi said pulling his mask down to show his second mask. "It's another mask."

Hanare stared at him for a moment then covered her mouth to restrain a laugh. Naruto simply shook his head then turned around when Hinata groaned.

"N...Naruto?" Hinata said groggily. "W...where am I?"

"You're home," Naruto said freeing her from the restraints. "What do you remember?"

"I...I remember feeling like you were in danger then going after you," Hinata said. "Then I met this guy in a black cloak with red clouds. He had this...spiral mask on and only one eye was visible through a hole. It...it was a Sharingan. I...I think he put me under a Genjutsu."

"He did," Naruto said. "During my fight with Sasuke, I turned into a monster, more so than I am now."

Hinata looked confused then noticed the tail and ears for the first time and her eyes widened.

"You arrived just in time to stop me from killing Sasuke but then you attacked me," Naruto continued. "You almost killed me. Then I went after you and stopped a platoon of ANBU from killing you. You and a Jinchuriki named Roshi both began to search for the Jinchuriki of the Hidden Cloud Village. You were calling the guy in the cloak your master. His name is Tobi."

"I don't remember any of that," Hinata said. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"Other than me?" Naruto asked. "You may have beaten the Raikage, somehow. We'll try to smooth things over later."

"Oh my God," Hinata said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Naruto said. "It wasn't your fault. None of it was."

"How was I freed?" Hinata asked.

"I broke the jutsu," Hanare said.

"Oh," Hinata said. "Thank you, but...who are you?"

"This is Hanare," Naruto said. "Kakashi's girlfriend."

"N-Naruto!" Kakashi said. "Oh boy."

Hanare giggled again then looked around.

"Where are Sakura and Sasuke?" Hanare asked.

"Sakura's in the hospital being checked for any injuries after her last mission and Sasuke...defected," Naruto said.

"Oh," Hanare said. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Naruto said. "Like I said, he didn't do it without a scratch."

Hanare nodded then Naruto teleported himself and Hinata to Tsunade's office.

"Hello Hinata," Tsunade said. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better thank you," Hinata said. "I still feel horrible about what happened."

"Hanyou!" a blonde woman said smashing the door open.

"Yugito," Naruto said. "It's good to see you."

"You know each other?" Tsunade asked.

"No," Naruto said. "But our tailed beasts do."

"Probably," Tsunade said.

"Not the way you would expect," Naruto said. "They're dating. Technically, none of the tailed beasts are related."

"Really?" Tsunade asked. "So it doesn't count as incest?"

"No," Naruto said. "All I want to know is how they can be dating when they're sealed away."

"I wonder the same thing," Yugito said.

Naruto shrugged then turned back to Tsunade.

"Please tell me you have something I can do to beat someone up," Naruto said.

"Not really," Tsunade said. I'll let you know as soon as I get something though. For now, go train."

THE END

* * *

Read and review


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. It's been a couple of weeks since the last chapter.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

On Break

Kiba jumped from one branch to another as fast as he could with Akamaru less than a meter behind him. He and Akamaru had been racing from one Great Shinobi Village to the next for around a week now and were nearing the Hidden Cloud Village. He was still furious about Naruto being with Hinata and even more that Hinata was in love with a filthy hanyou like Naruto. At the very least she could like a human. Even one like Killer B who was extremely annoying and a Jinchuriki. At best, Hinata could realize that Kiba was better than Naruto and date him instead.

The more he thought about it, the more angry he got. The more angry he got, the more he did stupid things. One example was attack Naruto despite knowing he would lose. An even better example was attacking, and nearly killing, his sister.

Finally Kiba stopped at the top of a high cliff. He had been running through the barren wasteland around the Hidden Cloud Village for some time without realizing it. He looked down into the valley before him and smirked. The Village was a group of buildings built into the sides of mountains. They consisted of balconies with a section of windows beneath then another balcony. The main building was a large blue structure built into the largest mountain. It got larger as it ascended the mountain and the top was covered in trees. The top of the mountain had been leveled and a radio tower had been constructed on top. Kiba knew that the Raikage worked in the large blue structure and that was reason enough to tread carefully to avoid angering him. Rumor spoke of the Raikage as a freak of nature that could bring Tailed Beasts to their knees single handedly. At the moment, the village was dead silent. He couldn't hear anything. Even the wind had ceased.

Kiba jumped down into the village landing on the first building and Akamaru landed next to him and whined.

"I know boy," Kiba said. "I don't like this either."

Just then, three ninja appeared around him and one of them slammed him onto the balcony floor and blindfolded him while one subdued Akamaru. Kiba pulled against his captor to try to break free but something small, hard, and rectangular smashed into his stomach and he blacked out. The next time he woke up, he was tied to a chair. It was far from comfortable and when he shifted position it groaned loudly. He froze and listened.

"You're awake, finally," A woman's voice said. "Tell us why you're here."

"I was just spending my free time running between villages to try to improve my speed," Kiba said.

"Don't listen to him," a male, and incredibly depressing, voice said. "He's probably a spy. He's probably going to kill us all. We should probably warn A that he's here."

"SHUT UP!" a second woman's voice shouted before something hard smashed against something.

"Ow!" the boy said.

"Knock it off you two!" the first woman said.

Just then someone pulled the blindfold away and Kiba squinted his eyes against the flashlight someone had thought to put less than an inch away from his face.

"Who are you?" the second woman asked.

"Kiba Inuzuka," Kiba said. "I'm from Konoha."

"Yeah right," the second woman said as the flashlight moved away.

Kiba blinked several times as his eyes adjusted then widened. The boy was no older than he was with snow white hair, a thin frame, and a chokuto across his back. One woman, the team captain, he assumed, was tall, about as old as Kiba's mother, from what he could tell, blonde with her hair reaching her shoulders, and had breasts almost as big as Tsunade's. The other girl, however, was the one that caught Kiba's attention the most. She was only a year or two older than him, had red hair halfway down her back, yellow eyes, and, like the others, she was tan. She wore a long, short-sleeved dress with frilly edges complete with the Kumogakure flak jacket, two simple yellow earrings, fishnet stockings, thigh-high boots with white soles and a forehead protector which she wore like a bandanna. She also had a chokuto on her back. She was beautiful and Kiba was having trouble deciding whether or not she was more beautiful than Hinata.

"Tell us why you are really here," the girl said.

"I did," Kiba said. "I was just doing speed and stamina training."

"And you have a ninken with you, why?" the girl asked.

"Because he's my partner," Kiba said.

"THAT'S SICK!" the girl screamed.

"That's not what I meant!" Kiba said. "Geez. He's my best friend. I go everywhere with him. Everywhere that isn't perverted!"

He added the last part so that the girl wouldn't get anymore sick thoughts.

"He's telling the truth," a tall black man with white hair, a white flak jacket, white gloves with red stripes, a white scarf, black pants, and a pack with seven swords on his back said stepping into the room.

"If you say so Lord B," the team leader said bowing slightly. "My name is Samui, this is Karui and Omoi. And this is-"

"The rappin' Killer B," B said. "Kumogakure's Jinchuriki."

B suddenly pulled out a small book and wrote something down then thought for a moment and shrugged before putting it away.

"Can you let me up now?" Kiba asked Karui. "Unless you prefer guys to be tied down. That's cool too."

"EEEEWWWW!" Karui screamed before slapping Kiba.

"I think she likes you," Omoi said grinning. "Otherwise she'd have punched you."

Karui spun around and planted her fist in Omoi's jaw sending him into B. then she pulled out her sword and cut the ropes tying Kiba down in one swing. She put the sword away and Kiba stood and smirked.

"Much better," Kiba said. "So, you going to give me a way to meet with you or should I just kidnap you?"

Karui stared at him then smirked and shook her head slowly.

"You just don't quit do you?" Karui asked.

"No," Kiba said. "That might be good for you though."

Karui closed her eyes and suppressed the urge to gag then smirked and walked out of the room.

"Congratulations," Omoi said. "She definitely likes you."

Kiba grinned and left the room to go somewhere with a view. He still liked Hinata but he was starting to warm up to the idea of Naruto dating her. He still planned on kicking Naruto's ass for it though.

* * *

Shino walked through the street with his collar pulled up further than usual. The reason was simple. He didn't want people seeing him smiling, or blushing. The reason for both of those was equally simple. He was going to see Hana. She was five years older than him but that made no difference to him. It made no difference to a lot of people given that there were several hundred couples in Konoha alone in which one person was old enough to be the other's parent. Even so, she still had no idea of his feelings and neither did anyone else in the village. That was the purpose behind his trench coat and glasses.

It was fortunate for him that Yamanaka Flowers was less than a mile from the Hospital because he didn't want to be seen carrying flowers. He found the store easily given that it was large and brightly colored. He walked around to the back where no one would see him and knocked on the door. Ino opened it and raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" Ino asked.

"I...need a bouquet of...um...roses," Shino said. "And for no one to ever hear about this."

Ino grinned then went inside to get the roses. A moment later she brought them out and handed them to him then took a picture.

"Ino!" Shino complained.

"Blackmail," Ino said in a sing-song voice and went back inside closing the door.

Shino groaned then jumped to the roof of the tallest building and quickly made his way to the hospital. When he got there, he went to Hana's window and slipped inside so no one would see him.

"Hey Shino," Hana said weakly. "Are those for me?"

"Um...yes," Shino said setting them beside her bed.

"They're lovely, thank you," Hana said smiling. "You know, you're the second person to come check on me. The other was Hinata. My mother's away on a mission so she couldn't see me and I doubt Kiba will show up. Aside from that everyone's been busy."

"It's been a long time since you got put in here," Shino said. "I find it hard to believe that none of them were able to find time to come see you."

"That's a good point," Hana said. "Although, I was unconscious for most of that time so maybe they came to see me while I was asleep. Why is it you didn't come any sooner?"

"I...um...didn't know what to say," Shino said struggling to get enough courage to tell her how he felt.

"Oh," Hana said. "Well, I'm just glad you came to see me."

Shino nodded and stared out the window trying harder to gather the strength to speak his mind.

"Is something the matter?" Hana asked.

Shino sighed then turned back to her and smiled even though she couldn't see it.

"I want to say something but I'm not sure how," Shino said. "And I'm...afraid...of how you will react."

"You can say anything and I won't get mad," Hana said smiling. "I promise."

Shino nodded and smiled again.

"Okay," Shino said then took a deep breath. "I...I...completely suck at this, apparently. Honestly, how is Naruto able to speak his mind so easily."

"Shino," Hana said restraining a laugh. "It's okay to be nervous. All humans are at one time or another. I'm not sure what you want to say but you have my word that I won't be mad and it will never leave this room."

Shino smiled and looked out the window again.

_It will if you feel the same way,_ Shino thought smiling even more.

He looked back at her to see that she was watching him carefully for any hint of what he might want to say. The level of attention she was giving him made his entire face turn beet red.

"I...love you," Shino forced out deciding to get it over with.

Hana blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Out of all of the possible things he may have wanted to say, no matter how small, that had been the last thing she had expected. She understood why he was blushing so badly and why he had been so nervous, though. To her knowledge he had never once had a girlfriend or even a crush. Kiba, being on his team, surely would have noticed if he had. Then again, Shino had always hidden his emotions, along with his face, so well that it wouldn't have surprised her if he had confessed to having gotten married.

"You...love me?" Hana finally managed. "I must admit, that's not what I expected you to say. I'm flattered. But...you have to realize that there's a little bit of an age difference."

"Just a little," Shino said smirking. "Only five years or so."

"I truly am flattered that you feel that way," Hana said. "And, despite you hiding your emotions, I can tell that you're sweet. And I know that you would gladly give your life for the village and your friends, but...I don't think it would work."

"Okay," Shino said again hiding his emotions perfectly.

Hana wouldn't have been able to tell if he had any emotions at all but somehow knew that he was heartbroken. She felt horrible for hurting him but, in all fairness, she hadn't actually been finished talking when he had spoken.

"You didn't let me finish," Hana said. "I don't think it would work...but I would be happy to try."

Shino stared at her uncomprehendingly then a smile slowly spread across his face. He had honestly been certain that she would reject him. Her feeling the same had been the last thing he had expected.

"I'm going to be discharged in about another week," Hanna said. "When I am, maybe we can get something decent, and not hospital regulated, to eat. I feel like Yakiniku Q. I want something unhealthy to celebrate getting out. And now I have something else to celebrate."

Shino's smile widened and he nodded. Hana smiled then Lee walked in.

"Ah, Shino," Lee said. "There you are. Your father wants to see you. Hello Hana, how are you?"

"Good," Hana said as Shino left.

Shino froze just outside the door as Hana made it official that the entire village would know about him dating her inside of a minute.

"You just met my new boyfriend," Hana said.

"WHAAAAAT!?" Lee shouted.

A moment later he shot past and out of the building. Shino sighed then continued walking.

* * *

Neji sat on top of the Hokage Monument and stared at the sky. He had just finished training and was resting before he had to inevitably do something for someone. It was always the same. He would be relaxing and someone in the main branch would want a message delivered, or some furniture moved, or sometimes laundry carried. Most of the main branch treated him like he was a slave. Some were very kind to him, of course, like Hanabi, Hinata, and Hiashi. Others were kind as well but those three were the kindest.

"Hey grumpy," Tenten said sitting down beside him.

"Hello Tenten," Neji said. "How are you?"

"Bored," Tenten said. "It's been a long time since we got to do anything. I want something to do."

Neji smirked and Tenten smacked him playfully.

"You know we only do that on special occasions," Tenten joked playing along with his obvious line of thought.

Both knew that they liked each other but they had never really done anything about it. Everyone else knew too but didn't waste their breath encouraging them.

"It's been a long time since Team Guy was able to do anything together huh?" Neji asked.

"It hasn't exactly been normal around here," Tenten said. "Sasuke defecting, Naruto being turned into a hanyou, Hinata being brainwashed. I think things might settle down eventually. If not, oh well. At least we can still hang out in between missions."

"True," Neji said. "We can do that."

He leaned toward her and she raised an eyebrow.

"I do have one suggestion about something you can do though," Neji said smirking.

"What's that?" Tenten asked noticing that they were mere inches away.

"Help me with this Hyuga's chore," Neji said leaning away just as a female Hyuga landed behind him.

"You," she said. "Neji. I need a message delivered then I need you to retrieve my ninja tools from the armorer."

"What's the message?" Neji sighed.

"I wrote it down so you couldn't forget it," she said holding out a piece of paper.

He stood and walked over taking it then bowing before she left.

"So, I'll deliver the note if you deliver the weapons," Neji said.

"Where does she live?" Tenten asked.

"Just go to the front door of the Hyuga Compound and the gatekeeper will take them to her," Neji said.

"Alright," Tenten said. "First back here wins."

Neji nodded and they both left as fast as they could. Within five minutes they both got back at the same time and sighed.

"We always tie," Tenten said.

"No kidding," Neji said. "It's kind of sad for me, not being able to finish before a girl."

Tenten was the one that smirked this time and Neji sighed when he realized what he had said.

"I didn't mean-" Neji began but stopped when Tenten kissed him.

"I know," Tenten said. "I don't mind. As long as you don't actually try that."

"I won't," Neji said smiling.

* * *

"Sakura, hand me that syringe please," Shizune said.

Sakura handed her the syringe and glanced down. She was helping Shizune with a surgery to remove cancer from one of Shizune's twenty-some patients. She had seen multiple surgeries like that so she was used to seeing someone's insides. The smell, on the other hand, would always make her want to gag.

"Okay," Shizune said healing the incision. "We're done. Thank you for your help Sakura."

Sakura nodded then got cleaned up and left. She didn't really know where she was going but figured she would find something to do eventually. After a half hour of aimless wandering and walking through three stores without buying anything, she reached the training field just as Lee did. He seemed agitated, or excited, about something.

"Are you okay Lee?" Sakura asked.

"Shino is dating Hana!" Lee said running over.

"E...excuse me?" Sakura asked.

"Shino and Hana are dating," Lee said.

"...Wow," Sakura said. "I definitely didn't see that coming. I guess that leaves, you, me, Ino, and Choji that are single."

"What about Neji and Tenten?" Lee asked.

"They're dating," Sakura said. "They just haven't figured it out yet."

Lee smiled and nodded then looked away.

"So," Sakura said. "Want to go get something from Yakiniku Q before Choji puts them out of business?"

"You mean...like...a date?" Lee asked.

Sakura smiled then nodded and Lee's face lit up then he nodded. They went to Yakiniku Q but by the time they arrived, most of the others in the Konoha 11 were already there and there were very few tables free. They took a table in the rear corner And when the waiter arrived they ordered the first thing they saw since they didn't really have a preference. After they had eaten they went back to the training field and sat in a tree sharing stories of previous missions. Lee seemed to have more successes than Sakura and it really hurt her pride.

"I have a question," Lee said. "Why go on a date with me? Don't you still like Sasuke?"

"Well," Sakura said. "Yes, I do. But I care about you too."

"But you care about him more," Lee said. "And if he came back and we were dating, you would break up with me for him."

"No," Sakura said. "I would never hurt you like that. I couldn't."

Lee smiled and nodded. Then Neji dropped out of the trees grinning.

"What were you doing up there?" Sakura asked.

"Listening to a romantic comedy," Neji said.

"You want to hear a romantic comedy?" Lee asked. "How about the fact that Shino and Hana are together."

Neji stared at him like he was speaking gibberish then he fell onto his back howling with laughter.

"I have to say Lee," Neji said while laughing. "You've gotten better at telling jokes."

"It's not a joke," Lee said. "It's the truth."

Neji stopped laughing and stared at him then stood and resisted the urge to laugh again.

"That's...great," Neji said.

"That's awesome!" Tenten said appearing beside Neji. "How'd you find out?"

"She told me," Lee said.

Neji and Tenten both ran off toward the hospital. Lee sighed then turned back to Sakura.

"They sure want to know if it's true," Lee said.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Well," Lee said. "We could try training."

Sakura thought for a moment then smirked and nodded. If anything, training with Lee would allow her to defend herself, assuming she survived the training.

* * *

Naruto walked into his apartment and closed the door He was exhausted from pretending to be happy for so long since waking up. His apartment was small with the kitchen doubling for a living room and his bed and bathroom both barely big enough to lay down in and side by side. His bathroom was always spotless so that it wouldn't stink but the rest of his house generally had ramen containers and other trash. He spent a couple hours cleaning it up receiving a few surprises upon remembering the color of the molding walls, water-stained floors and stained table. He wasn't even sure what had stained that.

His room was fairly clean but his bed was a mess. He made that then walked into the bathroom and looked in the full-length mirror. His fox ears stuck out about four inches from his hair, his whisker marks were as clear as ever, his claws and teeth were as obvious as ever, and his tail was about three feet long, bright orange, and as subtle as a wooly mammoth.

"I'm a monster," Naruto said. "Hinata must be ashamed of me. I know I sure am."

He felt rage and hatred at the sight of his reflection. He considered cutting the tail and ears off but somehow knew that he would just regrow them.

"Why did this happen to me?" Naruto asked himself. "Why couldn't I just be fucking normal!"

He punctuated the word normal with a punch to the reflection of his face shattering the mirror. He pulled out the first aid kit and sat on his bed wrapping his bloody hand. Then he lay back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. For the first time in his life, he was seriously struggling not to fall into thoughts of suicide. He wanted nothing more than to be just human again.

* * *

Hinata sat on the branch of a tree. She wanted to talk to Naruto, to tell him that she was sorry for attacking him. But she knew that he would just smile and act like it had been nothing. He honestly didn't mind but she knew that he was lying when he acted like he didn't care about being a hanyou so long as others didn't use the term to demean him.

He was struggling to stay positive recently and she knew it. She also knew that what she had done didn't exactly help. She had nearly killed the love of her life. Regardless of whether or not she had been in control she had done it. She could never be forgiven and could never forgive herself. She didn't want to hurt him again but couldn't just leave because that would cause him more pain than any jutsu ever could.

She looked around and sighed. She was very deep in the Forest of Death and all she could see was trees. They were so dense that she couldn't see fifty feet without her Byakugan and couldn't see the sky. It was extremely depressing and fit her mood perfectly.

"I don't deserve to be happy," Hinata finally decided. "Not after what I did."

She stood then headed to Naruto's apartment. She knocked on the door and Naruto opened it within a minute.

"Oh, hey Hinata," Naruto said smiling.

"Hello," Hinata said. "May I come in?"

"Sure," Naruto said.

He stepped out of the way and Hinata moved into the apartment and sat down in a chair. He sat down in on facing her and waited for her to speak.

"I...I'm so sorry," Hinata said. "What I did...I know I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"Hinata," Naruto said. "I know it wasn't you in control. I'm not angry. I never could be angry at you. I love you."

"I know," Hinata said on the verge of tears. "And you don't know how much that means to me, but..."

"But what?" Naruto asked fearing her answer.

"But...I..." Hinata struggled to find the words as tears began to fall. "I...don't deserve to be happy. I'm sorry. I don't deserve you."

"Hinata," Naruto said.

Hinata burst into tears and began to run toward the door but Naruto caught her and pulled her into a hug. He then sank to the floor with Hinata sobbing into his chest. He gently rocked back and forth running one hand through her hair and holding her against him with the other.

"I'm not letting you walk out on me," Naruto said. "I can't. Not now. I need you."

Hinata sobbed harder and Naruto hugged her tighter and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Finally she managed to stop crying but stayed against him.

"I don't care what you did when Tobi was controlling you," Naruto said. "I love you and I will never let you go."

Hinata wrapped her arms around him and smiled. After a while she finally stood and so did Naruto. She hugged him again then kissed him.

"I'm sorry I tried to leave you," Hinata said.

"It's okay," Naruto said. "Just don't do it again."

Hinata nodded then said, "Let's go get some ramen."

Naruto grinned and nodded. Then he slipped his hand into hers and they left.

THE END

* * *

Read and review. running out of ideas. Please leave a suggestion for a fight between any two characters that aren't friends. Kiba and Naruto is fine. I will try to work them in if I can.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Cold

"Naruto," and ANBU said landing on the rooftop next to Naruto. "Lady Tsunade requests your presence."

Naruto had been standing on the roof of a random building in Konoha using his sense of smell to keep track of the others. He had been training all of his senses to become sharper except his sense of touch. That he was doing the opposite with. He was training himself to feel less pain so that if he was ever tortured he would be able to withstand it. He could now smell people on the opposite side of the village so well that he could, in a sense, see them. He could smell poison in a bottle of wine from thirty feet away and could easily see a fly on a building thirty feet away.

Naruto nodded then turned and ran to Tsunade's office. When he arrived, he found Sakura, Lee, Hinata, and Ino were already there.

"Ah Naruto," Tsunade said. "I'm afraid there's a bit of a problem."

"Define problem," Naruto said.

"We're being charged with protecting an actress," Kakashi said appearing in the open window. "It's an A-rank mission so we got some extra help."

"And which is Sasuke's replacement?" Naruto asked.

"Sai," Kakashi said. "Where is he anyway?"

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"If you mean the kid that needs to get some sun, he's on his way," Naruto said. "He'll be here in three...two...one..."  
Just then the door opened and an extremely pale boy with short black hair, black eyes, and a short, open, black jacket with red straps over a navy blue shirt that ended just below his rib cage walked in. The jacket had a full sleeve on the right side and a short sleeve on the left. He wore two black gloves with the index and thumb exposed, a tanto on his right shoulder, black pants with a kunai pouch on his right leg, and black sandles. He had a ninja tool pouch on his belt and Naruto could smell ink inside it.

"Sorry I'm late," Sai said in an emotionless voice.

"Ah, there you are Sai," Kakashi said. "Meet your teammates, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh," Sai said looking at Naruto who instantly gritted his teeth against what he knew was coming. "The hanyou."

Everyone stiffened and glanced at Naruto.

"Don't...call me...a hanyou," Naruto warned. "Where's the actress?"

"That's the downside," Kakashi said. "She's run off."

"I'll find her," Naruto said walking out onto the roof outside the window and sniffing once. "I got her. There are some people chasing her on horseback. Know who they are?"

"They're extras for her movie," Kakashi said. "Don't hurt them."

"Are you sure he can do it alone?" Sai asked.

"Easily," Hinata said.

Naruto jumped off of the roof and Hinata held up three fingers. She counted down and the moment she hit zero Naruto appeared in the middle of the office directly over a Flying Thunder God Technique seal.

"Let me go!" the actress, a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair, navy blue eyes, a green blouse over a pink jacket, and brown gloves said.

"Ah, Yukie Fujikaze, I believe," Kakashi said.

"Kakashi," Yukie said. "I should have known they'd hire you."

Kakashi shrugged just as one of the people who had been chasing him burst in gasping for breath. He was wearing a brown cloak over a white long-sleeve shirt and a black coat, black pants, round armless glasses, and black shoes.

"There you are," the man panted. "I see you met your new body guards."

Naruto placed a tag on Yukie's back and Sai gave him a questioning look.

"Insurance," Naruto said.

"What is?" Yukie asked.

"The teleportation seal I just put on your back," Naruto said. "Now if you run off I can catch you before you go ten feet."

Yukie glared at him then stormed out of the room.

"Let her go," the man said. "She'll go to the bar."

"So," Kakashi said. "You must be Sandayu."

"That's right," Sandayu said. "I'm afraid that our leading lady may not want to go to the Land of Snow."

"Land of Snow?" Naruto asked.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "We're going to be her body guards while they shoot the movie."

Naruto nodded then smirked.

"I doubt it'll be that easy," Naruto said.

"Well," Kakashi said. "The Land of Snow has shinobi but has failed to sign a treaty with anyone."

"So they might be hostile," Naruto said.

"That's right," Kakashi said.

"Why bring them?" Naruto asked. "I can handle anyone we find."

"Simple," Kakashi said. "Killer B and Yugito have been sighted there. They were wearing Akatsuki robes."

"Figures," Naruto said. "When do we leave?"

"Once we collect Yukie," Kakashi said. "I'll handle it, though. You go get ready."

Naruto nodded then left. He arrived at the ship inside of five minutes and the workers pointed him to his room. The ship was fairly small with a green hull, faded red handrails, and two masts. One of the deck hands told Naruto how to get to his room and Naruto found it easily. The room was about fifty feet across and the bed was little more than a pile of rags and blankets. Aside from the bed, there was no other furniture and the window was barely more than a foot across.

He set his backpack in the corner just as Hinata stepped into the doorway and knocked.

"Oh hey Hinata," Naruto said smiling.

"Can we talk?" Hinata asked.

"Sure," Naruto said.

Hinata walked over and sat on the bed and Naruto sat next to her. She slipped her hand into his then leaned on his shoulder and tried to think of something to say.

"You've seemed less...cheerful ever since you woke up," Hinata said.

"I know," Naruto said.

"I know you don't like being a...what you are," Hinata said. "And I know that it's taking a lot out of you. But you don't have to go through it alone. I'll always be here for you. You know that."

"I know," Naruto said. "It's just...I never wanted to be a Jinchuriki. I never wanted to be a hanyou. I never had a choice. The Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-tails inside me when I was an infant. Because of that, everyone's been acting like I'm a monster, especially now."

"You're not a monster," Hinata said sitting up and turning him to face her. "You are more human than anyone I know. You are the man that I love. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you. As long as you can live with _who_ you are, it's possible to forget, _what_ you are."

Naruto's gaze fell to the floor. She was right that he shouldn't care what anyone else thought. In truth only her opinion of him should matter but it still hurt to have everyone be afraid of him.

_Enough self pity,_ Naruto thought. _If Hinata can accept me like this, I should damn well be able to accept myself._

Naruto looked back up at Hinata and smiled.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "I'm glad you'll never give up on me."

Hinata nodded and kissed Naruto. Then she stood and walked to the door.

"I have to go unpack," Hinata said. "I'll see you later."

Naruto nodded and Hinata left. He used his sense of smell to track her to her room then used his sense of hearing like sonar to get a mental image of her room. It was about the size of the main room of his apartment. It had a king-size curtain bed and from the sound of the ringing he got from it it was heavily inlaid with gold. There were also two high-backed armchairs, a small table, a wardrobe, and as good a bathroom as someone could hope for on a ship.

"Figures," Naruto said. "So, guess I'm going to go see how it's going."

He walked up to the deck just as Kakashi carried an unconscious Yukie on board. Naruto leaned on the hand rail and within minutes the ship was sailing.

"So," Sakura said leaning on the rail next to Naruto. "How long until we get there do you think it'll be?"

"I wager about a week," Naruto said. "Although, the colder it is, the worse my sense of smell will be. It's my best sense besides sight so I won't be as efficient in a fight."

"As long as you can fight you'll be fine," Sakura said. "Besides, how hard can it be to protect an actress?"

After three days, and one scene, it became clear that Yukie was an amazing actress. When the camera was rolling, she was nothing like the spoiled snob she actually was. However, she interrupted recording so that Sandayu could put eye drops into her eyes so that she could cry. Naruto and Sakura weren't sure whether to be amazed or let down by her. The morning of the third day, they ran aground on a glacier, miraculously without damaging the ship.

"Do you know what this is?" The producer asked.

"Um, an ice burg, sir?" his assistant asked.

"It's PERFECT!" the producer said. "We shoot here!"

The film crew groaned but took their equipment down onto the ice burg and began to set up. The head villain in the film got into position and so did Yukie and the others. Naruto stood by a portable wood stove with some of the ship's crew and Sakura and Hinata stood with him. As they watched the villain jumped out and started yelling about how He had been waiting for Yukie and how her companions were no match for him. Then, just as he moved to pretend to attack, an explosion went off behind him shaking the entire ice burg. Naruto tensed and sniffed but the cold made him sneeze and he realized his sense of smell would be completely useless.

"Great," Naruto said.

Just then, Kakashi appeared in front of Yukie and the other two. Naruto crouched and growled then stiffened and stood shaking his head.

"You okay?" Hinata asked.

"Fine," Naruto said.

Just then a snow ninja rose from under a white blanket next to where the explosion had been.

"Welcome friends, to the land of snow," the shinobi said.

"You!" Kakashi said.

He was tall with a mask-style forehead protector, eyebrows that were simply dots over the inside of the eyes, prominent cheek bones, teal eyes, and light grey tear lines extending from the bottom of his eyes. He had most of his hair in a ponytail with the rest behind his back falling halfway down his back and a couple of his bangs falling beside his face. He also wore white chakra armor with blue lines across it over a grey sweat shirt and a small generator on his left shoulder that was the power source for the armor. Naruto could tell that the armor was nothing he had ever seen before and would be a problem.

Kakashi suddenly whipped his head around to the side and the others looked as well. They were suddenly aware of a female snow ninja standing on top of an ice spike. She wore a forehead protector attached to her grey helmet and also wore chakra armor. Her armor's power source was on her back along with two metal spikes like the bones in a bat's wing. She had green eyes and pink hair that stuck out of her helmet.

"Greetings, Princess Koyuki," the kunoichi said. "I do hope you're still carrying around the Hex Crystal."

Kakashi glanced back at Yukie then spun around again as a third snow ninja rose out of the snow finishing the ambush and blocking their only other possible escape rout. This shinobi was as fat as Choji's father and also wearing chakra armor. His power core was dead center of his chest. He left arm was covered by a large cylindrical robotic arm with a cannonball-like hand, flat fingers, and a thick, studded plate extending in place of the knuckles. He had medium pauldrons on his right shoulder but his left was covered by a large pauldron with a metal rod extending upward from the center. He had a short crop of purple hair and black eyes.

"You're as good as they say Kakashi," the shinobi said. "Unfortunately, it's not good enough."

"Naruto, Sakura, Hinata," Kakashi said. "You three protect Yukie. The rest of you, take the girl and the big guy. Everyone else, get back to the ship!"

Lee, Ino, and Sai appeared from wherever they had been and rushed at their targets. Kakashi charged at the first shinobi who seemed to be the leader.

"Any idea who they are?" Sakura asked.

"I'd search their memories if I could use my nose," Naruto said. "Damn cold."

"Yukie," Hinata said. "Please return to the ship."

"Good idea," Naruto said, "because here comes fatso."

Naruto cracked his neck then set seals around so he could finish the fight fast and Hinata and Sakura got ready to fight along side him as best they could. Behind the shinobi, Lee was running as fast as he could to catch up but he still hadn't quite recovered from the injuries Gaara gave him so his speed was already reduced and running through snow isn't even easy for a ninja.

Naruto used his ability to walk on water to the same effect on the snow. Sakura and Hinata did the same and the snow Ninja leapt at Naruto when he was close enough, unfortunately for him. When he was in the air, Hinata flashed over to him with a lion head already formed out of her chakra over her hands and threw a punch at him. Just before the blow hit, a force field appeared and absorbed most of the attack but it still sent him flying and his white armor showed a slightly darker burn mark.

"Impressive," the shinobi said. "You're very skilled."

Naruto grinned when Hinata glanced at him to see if he had had time to tag the shinobi.

"If you think she's good, try me," Naruto said walking toward the shinobi.

"Okay," the shinobi said. "Try this."

Naruto set seals in two parallel lines about ten feet apart extending past the shinobi. He had increased the range he could place them at until he had doubled it. The shinobi held his metal hand up and the hand shot out. Just before it hit Naruto, he teleported to one of the seals and continued walking while the hand smashed into the ground behind him.

"Impressive," the shinobi said. "Try this."

He swung his hand and the metal chord connected to the hand shot sideways swinging the hand like a flail. Naruto teleported to the other line of seals safely on the other side of the chord. The shinobi grunted and swung the flail back at Naruto and Naruto teleported to the other line avoiding the attack again.

"Stand still!" the shinobi said swinging aiming for just ahead of Naruto so that he would hit him if he didn't teleport.

Naruto, however, followed the order and the flail passed uselessly in front of him. Naruto continued walking and the shinobi swung the flail back at him one last time. This time, Naruto kicked it back past the shinobi. Naruto teleported to the seal on the shinobi's back catching the hand then threw it sideways around the shinobi then ducked as the chord wrapped the shinobi up. Lee arrived a moment later panting.

"You should go to the ship," Naruto said. "We've got this."

Naruto looked sideways to see Ino and Sai fighting the kunoichi and Kakashi fighting the other shinobi. Sai and Ino were a good team and Naruto was interested in Sai's abilities. He seemed to be able to paint something then bring it to life and send it after his target. He also seemed extremely capable at hand to hand combat and with the tanto he carried which had no tip. Kakashi and the other shinobi seemed to be fairly even with hand to hand combat and Naruto figured they knew it.

"Your students are very skilled," Kakashi's opponent said. "Especially the hanyou. The Fourth's brat right?"

"Shut up!" Kakashi said sending a kick at the shinobi's head.

The shinobi blocked it then jumped back at the same time as Kakashi.

"Ice Style, Swallow Snow Storm!" the kunoichi said forming hand seals.

Ice arrows shot out of the ground at her feet then formed into razor sharp birds and shot at Ino. At the last second fifteen ink lions leapt in front of her to block the attack and Sai shoved her aside. The lions did their job fairly well as the ink they were reduced to knocked most of the ice swallows out of the air but the last one made it through and found its way through Sai's stomach.

"Sai!" Ino screamed as Sai landed at her feet, blood pooling under him from his wound as well as the corners of his mouth.

"Ice Style, White Whale Jutsu!" Kakashi's opponent said forming hand seals.

Suddenly a gigantic white whale shot out of the ocean and began to tear the ice burg apart while landing on it. Kakashi copied the jutsu and his own whale crashed into his opponent's. The kunoichi Ino and Sai had been fighting ran over and grabbed her fat teammate then retreated to stand with the leader. The whales destroyed the ice burg and Kakashi and the others all retreated onto the ship then set sale. The three snow ninja watched from the remains of the island and the leader removed the seal Naruto had placed on the fat one.

"Who were those guys?" Naruto asked.

"The girl was Fubuki Kakuyoku, the fat one was Mizore Fuyukuma, and the leader was Nadare Roga," Kakashi said. "They're old enemies of mine."

"The fat one was weak," Naruto said.

"Not true," Kakashi said. "He's actually very strong. In fact, I was surprised you were able to beat him so easily."

"Kakashi," Ino said. "You'd better come down here."

Kakashi nodded and followed Ino to the infirmary they had taken Sai to. Sakura was trying her best to heal Sai's wound but it was a bit worse than she could handle.

_"Kurama,"_ Naruto said.

_"I'll do it,"_ Kurama said then began to force Naruto into using Medical Ninjutsu by controlling his chakra.

Kurama healed Sai through Naruto then let Naruto regain control.

"Where did you-" Sakura began.

"Same place I got the upgrades," Naruto said.

"I see," Sakura said. "I guess that's good."

Naruto nodded then went back to the deck. Hinata followed but the others stayed to make sure Sai was alright while Sakura tended to Lee to help him recover faster.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Fine," Naruto said.

"Naruto," Hinata said.

"He tried to take control during the fight," Naruto said. "I was able to stop him but I'm not sure I can keep him under control for very long if he keeps his chakra."

"What do you mean, keeps his chakra?" Hinata asked.

"There's a method of separating a tailed beast from their chakra to take full control of them but..." Naruto trailed off.

"But you're afraid that if you do, you'll relapse into the form you had before I stopped you," Hinata finished.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Eventually I'll need to confront Kurama."

He suddenly had an idea and whispered something to her but didn't let Kurama hear him or his thoughts about what he had said. Hinata blushed slightly then nodded.

"If I relapse," Naruto said, "say that."

"You had better not relapse around anyone else," Hinata said.

"I had better not relapse period," Naruto said then sneezed. "Stupid cold."

Hinata covered her mouth to stifle a laugh but Naruto heard it just fine. He smirked and shook his head then hugged her and they went back below deck where it was warm.

THE END


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Massacre

"You knew all along didn't you?" Kakashi asked Sandayu.

"Yes," Sandayu said.

"Knew what?" Sakura asked.

"Yukie Fujikaze is actually Princess Koyuki Kazahana," Naruto said. "Rightful ruler of the Land of Snow. I was able to understand some of her repressed memories. They were very scrambled."

"I can imagine," Kakashi said. "I saved her and smuggled her out of the country when her uncle, Doto Kazahana took over."

"I feared that she had died," Sandayu said. "But then I found her. I could hardly believe she was alive."

"I should have died back then," Koyuki said appearing in the doorway.

"You mustn't say such things princess," Sandayu said. "We feared the worst. You can't imagine how frantic we all were. We never stopped praying for your life."

"I'm alive," Koyuki said. "But my heart is dead. After that day, any tears I had left all dried up."

"And that's how I became the manager for Yukie Fujikaze," Sandayu said. "I abided my time waiting for the day that I could escort her back to the Land of Snow."

"So what are you saying then?" the directors assistant asked. "That all this time you've just been using us?"

"I apologize for deceiving you," Sandayu said standing. "But it was for the sake of the Land of Snow's people."

As he spoke he rushed over to stand in front of Koyuki then dropped to his hands and knees in a bow.

"Princess Koyuki, confront Doto and assume your rightful place as the leader of our land!" Sandayu pleaded.

Koyuki simply stared at him in silence.

Sandayu bowed his head then continued. "I would sacrifice my life without hesitation in order to protect you! I beg you, take up arms and lead your people."

Koyuki stared at him for a long time then said, "I don't think so. You've gotta be kidding."

Sandayu looked up at her in a mixture of surprise and despair.

"But...what about your people?" Sandayu asked.

"I could care less about them," Koyuki said looking away in disgust. "Just forget it."

"But Princess-" Sandayu began.

"Will you give it up already?" Koyuki snapped glaring at him. "Don't be dumb! It doesn't matter what you do, will never get rid of Doto, okay?"

Sandayu struggled not to begin to cry from despair and Naruto had heard enough.

"What's your point?" Naruto asked glaring at her. "He should just give up? Are you really that cold? Can't you see he has given his entire life for this? Stop being so heartless!"

"As long as there is hope, one may dream," the director said. "And with that dream, the future comes. That's perfect. It's the perfect theme for our new Princes Gale movie."

"But sir," his assistant said. "You're don't really intend to try to finish the movie, right?"

"Of course I do," the director said. "How often do you get to make a movie about a princess, with a real princess? It's the chance of a lifetime."

"Good point," his assistant said. "This will be a gold mine."

"Unfortunately there's only one coarse of action," Kakashi said. "Since Doto knows we're here, we can't run. If we intend to live, we need to fight."

"Fine with me," Naruto said. "Get me within two hundred meters of Doto and it's over."

"That's enough!" Koyuki shouted. "The movies aren't like real life. There is no such thing as a happy ending in this world!"

"Of course there is if you're willing to fight for it!" the director said.

Koyuki stared at him and Naruto smirked. The director had taken the words right out of Naruto's mouth.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd head back to the village for a little bit of help, but..." Kakashi said.

"It is a waste of time!" Lee said. "We are more than powerful enough to handle whatever they throw at us!"

"Are you nuts?" Ino said angrily. "Sai almost died the last time we fought those guys! I would have died if he hadn't saved me!"

"Lee's right," Naruto said. "We can handle them. I'll take the girl next time because the fat guy doesn't use jutsus. He relies completely on that robot arm of his. You guys can handle that with ease."

"Thank you all," Sandayu said.

"That's it then," the director said. "We're goin' ahead with this picture."

"And you can bet this one'll have a happy ending!" his assistant said.

"Damn straight," Naruto said grinning. "I'll handle Doto when he finally grows a pair and comes after us himself."

"You sound like you think it'll be as easy as strolling up to him and slitting his throat," Koyuki said.

"Pretty close," Naruto said. "More like, teleporting behind him and shoving a sword up his ass. Easy."

With that decided they continued to travel and reached a forest. It was very thinly wooded with a clear path through and after an hour or so of traveling, they reached a tunnel and stopped for a pee break.

"Our hideout's not far from here," Sandayu said. "It's just beyond this cave. Once we've finished our shooting here, we'll continue to the hideout. Then, my people can rest easier. They'll finally have their princess back."

They headed into the tunnel and Naruto looked out the window to see how far it was but even his enhanced vision couldn't see the exit.

"Now that is dark," Naruto said grinning.

"Once upon a time, a railroad ran through here," Sandayu said. "It's covered by pillars of ice by now though."

They finally reached the other side of the railroad and stopped. The director stepped out and looked around as his assistant came running over.

"Sir!" he said running over. "We've got a bit of a problem!"

"What is it now?" the director asked.

"Yukie's up and vanished again!" the assistant said.

"What?" the director asked. "Ugh. Go tell Naruto."

The assistant ran to Naruto's truck and told him the problem.

"I got it," Naruto said.

He teleported to the seal but there was a slight problem. It was on the face of a cliff.

"Smart girl," Naruto said as he began to fall.

He caught a handhold then stood on the cliff and ran back to the top.

"For being just an actress, she learned a pretty nifty seal transfer jutsu," Naruto said looking around. "Unfortunately for her, I can still hear her running."

He followed the sound of snow crunching underfoot and after a couple of minutes there was a louder and slightly longer crunch then silence. He ran as straight toward where the sound had been as he could and found Koyuki passed out in the snow. Koyuki looked up after a second and saw Naruto standing in front of her.

"Nice move removing the seal and placing it there," Naruto said. "I have to give you credit on that one. This time, however, I'm placing it somewhere you can't remove it."

He placed the seal an inch under her skin then knelt in front of her.

"Shall we head back Your Highness?" Naruto asked.

"Why do you care?" Koyuki asked. "Why won't you just leave well enough alone."

"You honestly think this place is well enough alone?" Naruto asked. "You think you are? If I hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death."

"But this isn't your country," Koyuki said. "And my life shouldn't be none of your concern."

"When I was young," Naruto said. "I wasn't a hanyou. I was human but had a demon sealed inside me. I was treated like a monster. But I learned that if you try hard enough and don't give up, you can achieve almost anything. That brought me friends. Then, when I finally did turn into the monster everyone treated me like, my friends didn't care. If you don't give up, Doto can be stopped. If you can't believe in yourself, then at least believe in me."

Koyuki stared at him for a moment then pulled herself onto his back. He stood and then began heading back to the others. If he had thought about it, he would have placed a teleportation seal back with the others. He ran through the forest and toke in his surroundings. The forest was a bit more heavily populated than before and he found himself weaving around trees quickly. The wind was also beginning to pick up and reduced his hearing to the level of a human's in dead silence. A human's would be about half what his was. Finally he reached the tunnel and slowed to a walk. As they walked, however, the rails that were supposed to be buried in the ice, rose out of it and thawed. Then, a train whistle blew.

"You have got to be fucking joking," Naruto said.

"What is it?" Koyuki asked.

"Trouble," Naruto said.

He began running toward the others and the whistle blew again. A light appeared behind him and he ran as fast as he could. The train was a bit faster than him however and he really had to push himself. He realized vaguely that the cold had made him so sore that he couldn't move at his fastest but he ignored the thought and pushed himself harder. The numbness began to become more prominent and his legs began to feel shaky. The train became visible behind them at the same time that Naruto was able to see the exit as a tiny pinprick.

"Hang on," Naruto said.

He ran faster and his legs began to give out. He would stumble, regain his footing and continue before stumbling again. Finally he simply began to propel himself forward each time his foot stuck barely managing to stay off the ground but falling over a long distance. Finally he launched himself and Koyuki out of the tunnel and sideways off of the rails just as the train shot by. There were easily fifty cars. The train stopped by all of the trucks and Naruto and Koyuki sat up to look at it.

"It's been a long time, Koyuki," a distorted male voice said from a speaker somewhere on the train.

"I knew it," Koyuki said. "It's Doto."

Naruto looked closer at the end of the train and saw two people. One was the thinner male that Kakashi had fought and the other was a man in a white robe over a grey shirt and pants. Naruto was too far away to make out his features but could see black hair and broad shoulders.

"It's been ten years," Doto continued. "Come now, don't be shy. Let's get a look at that face."

Koyuki sat in silence and Naruto stood in front of her. He used a transformation jutsu to hide his ears and tail then glared at Doto. Doto glared right back disapprovingly and Naruto could tell even from a distance he was deciding how much of a threat Naruto was. Just then there was a sound like thunder and enormous logs began to shoot down the hill crashing into the side of the train along with an avalanche partially burying the train. Doto turned to see where the logs had come from and was slightly surprised.

Standing on top of the hill were about fifty soldiers. Some of the soldiers had samurai armor without the helmets but others wore simple clothes and carried spears or swords. All of them wore dark grey shirts and pants and the armor was green. Sandayu was also there. His armor was green with red ends, a red coat over it and a black shirt under it. He had a sword on his waist, and his tanto that held Koyuki's eye drops that she used to cry. All of the soldiers looked angry and ready to die.

"There you have it men," Sandayu said. "Our Princess has returned. Victory shall be ours!"

The soldiers cheered and raised their weapons.

"What the..." Naruto said.

"Sandayu," Koyuki said.

Sandayu drew his sword then said, "Here me Doto! We've waited a long time for this day of reckoning to come! Sandayu Asama and fifty loyal warriors stand before you to avenge our great fallen leader, Lord Sosetsu! On this day, you will breath no more!"

The soldiers began to cheer and Doto simply turned to Nadare.

"I thought you destroyed the last of the insurgents," Doto said.

"My apologies," Nadare said. "We'll get rid of them immediately."

"No," Doto said. "With men such as these, there is little that they can understand besides total annihilation."

The soldiers began to charge and the sides of the train cars suddenly slid open revealing hundreds of slots. Snow ninja rose out of spots in the top of the train with smaller mortars. Naruto knew they were mortars but was unsure of what they would shoot. He wasn't sure he wanted to know either.

"Dear God," Naruto said when he realized what was about to happen.

All of the cars opened except the front where Doto was heading to. The soldiers continued to charge and Naruto knew they wouldn't stop even though most had a good idea that they were dead.

"SANDAYU, STOP!" Naruto shouted.

The soldiers didn't stop. If anything, they sped up. The moment they got halfway, the snow ninja began turning the cranks on the sides of their smaller mortars. Instantly, kunai began to shoot out of every slot in the train. Wave after wave of kunai launched out and tore through the soldiers. Naruto wanted to look away but was so shocked that he couldn't. He was vaguely aware of Doto's insane laugh ringing out amidst the sound of the kunai being fired.

Soldiers began to fall but a few continued to stumble forward, the waves of kunai finally having stopped. The soldiers had kunai sticking out of their bodies some in as deep as the ring on the end. The last of the soldiers fell leaving only Sandayu standing but unable to walk any further. One of the snow ninja fired one more wave of kunai. Just before it reached Sandayu, however, ink tigers and lions dropped in front of him and blocked the kunai. Then, Sandayu collapsed.

Ino ran between two hills and threw a kunai with a paper bomb at the train. It his the center car and exploded damaging it. Sakura threw a ball of explosive tags onto the top of a mountain and it sent an avalanche at the train. Wen it hit, the train began to move and cross the bridge ahead of it. The moment it was halfway there, the bridge exploded. The front two cars disconnected and began to pull away. Naruto threw a kunai with a paper bomb and destroyed the back half of the second car. Doto climbed into the engine and the second car disconnected.

"Sandayu!" Kakashi said once the train was gone.

"This is awful," Sakura said.

"That's what they get for trying to fight Naruto," Koyuki said.

Just then Kakashi and a couple of the crew members arrived carrying Sandayu on a wood slab. They set him down and he turned his head toward Koyuki.

"My Princess," Sandayu said. "Please forgive me. I never should have...involved you...in all of this. It's just...we believed...because you...were alive. You have always been our purest hope...You must...believe in yourself. Please...do not...waste your tears...on me."

Then he fell limp. Everyone lowered their heads except Koyuki.

"You are such a fool Sandayu," Koyuki said. "I can't cry. You have my eye drops."

She stood and glared at everyone.

"Are you all satisfied?" Koyuki asked. "Let's go back. If you stay you your lives will be in jeopardy. Let's go home already."

She turned and began walking away.

"Go home to where?" Naruto asked. "I thought this was your home. Where would you go back to? Now suck it up and get off your high horse!"

"You don't get it," Koyuki said. "There is no spring here. We're as cold as the land."

"But..." Sakura said. "Sandayu believed you could change that."

"Sandayu was a fool," Koyuki said. "I've had enough of this nonsense."

"Wait!" Naruto said.

"Leave me alone already!" Koyuki said turning around and glaring at him.

Just then, an enormous dark grey blimp with the train engine under it rose from behind the cliff and Mizore shot his robotic hand. The hand grabbed the back of Koyuki's coat and then pulled her up into the blimp.

"Oh no you don't," Naruto said.

He teleported to the seal he had placed on Koyuki and kicked Mizore out of the blimp. He shot his hand and grabbed onto the railing on the back then began to pull himself back up.

"And there's the main problem with attaining my Hex Crystal," Doto said.

"Would you like me to kill him?" Nadare asked.

"No," Doto said. "I have an idea. Try the new device on him."

"An excellent idea," Nadare said.

A panel opened in the wall and Doto removed a device with a fairly hexagonal shape but with six raised sides. A single hole was located on each. Nadare twisted the top and bottom then separated them. Electricity ran between the two pieces for a moment then stopped. He then walked up to Naruto and used the bottom piece to block a punch while smashing the top into his stomach. A chord extended from each of the holes then stabbed into Naruto's stomach around the device then electricity arched across his body.

"What is that?" Koyuki asked.

"The device absorbs the victim's chakra then stores it behind an impenetrable barrier. It can not be stopped once activated, no matter what," Doto said.

Naruto collapsed and the seal on Koyuki faded. Koyuki stared at the spot then back at Naruto.

"So much for you being a threat," Nadare said.

"I'm going to...kick...your..." Before Naruto could finish, he blacked out.

"Now then," Doto said. "I'll take that Hex Crystal if you don't mind."

Koyuki removed the necklace and handed it to him. He smiled at it then his smile faded and rage took its place.

"What is this?" Doto asked. "This isn't a game! You didn't think I would know this is a fake?"

"It's a..." Koyuki remembered Kakashi picking up her necklace on the ship before Sandayu told him that the ship had docked. "Kakashi Hatake."

"Makes sense," Nadare said. "Kakashi's a shrewd one. I wouldn't put it past him to pull a bait and switch."

"We'll round him up," Fubuki said.

"Don't bother," Doto said. "He'll be coming after them. For now, we'll wait."

He crushed the fake crystal and then smiled.

THE END

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	18. Chapter 18

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Spring

A couple of hours later, Naruto awoke chained in the dungeon of what he assumed was Doto's castle. From what he could see in the dark, his cell was fairly large to keep him from reaching the walls. The bars were wrought iron and he suspected there was a seal. Outside the cell, there was a walkway about three feet wide and then there was a chasm. There were several levels of cells and a thin ice walkway at each. The walkways were connected to the other side of the chasm by catwalks that were even smaller. They were only connected to the next level by stairwells accessible through hallways and a very exposed elevator every few hundred feet.

Naruto's wrists were shackled and the chain between them was about two inches long. The chain connecting the shackles to the ceiling of the cell was attached to the center of the chain of his shackles. His ankles were shackled but the chain allowed for a lot more movement. He pulled against the shackles on his wrists but they were stronger than he expected but the moment he began to use any strength, the device still attached to his stomach electrocuted him as it began absorbing chakra again.

"Terrific," Naruto said. "I guess I'll have to do this the old fashion way."

He pulled down on his shackles then lifted his feet up and pulled his right foot up to his face. He had a file sticking out from under some of the tape wrapped around his boot. He bit it and pulled it out then let his foot drop. He heared someone coming and slipped the file into his collar. Then he closed his eyes and acted asleep. A moment later, two snow ninja walked over to the cell across from his with Koyuki between them. They locked her in her cell and she sat against the wall. Once the snow ninja were gone Naruto opened his eyes. After a few minutes, she looked over at the device on his stomach.

"Serves you right," Koyuki said.

"You're not so well off yourself," Naruto said.

"I know," Koyuki said.

"Well I'm not giving up yet," Naruto said.

He pulled the file out and pulled himself up until he could begin filing at the chains. He held the file between his teeth and ran it across the chains by turning his head.

"That's not going to change anything," Koyuki said.

He slipped and almost lost the file but pulled himself back up and continued. After a few more minutes he was about halfway through when he slipped again and the file landed on the floor.

"Told you," Koyuki said. "In the end, all you can do is give up."

"I told you I'm not giving up," Naruto said. "That's not what I do."

He began to pull his arms sideways away from each other and the device electrocuted him. He gritted his teeth and continued to pull while the device continually electrocuted him. Finally, the link he had been filing snapped. He landed face first and didn't move.

"Naruto," Koyuki said silently. "Why didn't you just give up?"

"Because," Naruto said. "That electricity warmed me up. Now my senses are back to my normal."

"Oh really?" Koyuki asked.

"Yep," Naruto said.

He stood and walked over the the bars and reached out to grip two of them. The moment he touched them, however, an electricity seal on the door activated and electrocuted him sending him flying backward landing under where he had been suspended. He blacked out until an explosion shook the castle. He didn't move and within minutes two snow ninja ran by. One glanced in and saw him on the floor and stopped.

"When did he..." He ran back and removed the seal tag then the other ninja unlocked the door and opened it.

They stepped in and reached to grab him but he rolled over and smashed his foot into the side of one's head then smashed his other foot int the other's throat. Both collapsed and he stood taking the keys.

"Not a threat my ass," Naruto said earning a smile from Koyuki.

He ran over to her cage and removed the tag then unlocked her door. A moment later they were running through the base toward what they hoped was the exit. The cold was beginning to get to Naruto again but he didn't pay it any attention. They got in an elevator and went up to the top level of cells then began to run along the catwalk they stepped out onto. Before they had gone far, a cable shot up from below and smashed into the bottom of the catwalk above them and a snow ninja rose from below as his gauntlet tried to pull the cable back in. He landed in front of Naruto as the cable broke free of the catwalk and went back into the gauntlet.

Naruto dashed forward and threw a punch at the ninja's head but it leaned sideways and pushed Naruto's arm away and Naruto flipped over and swung his foot at the ninja's head from the other side. The ninja leapt back and held up his hands.

"Wait!" the ninja said. "Hold on a minute Naruto! It's me!"

He threw the snow ninja uniform off and revealed his leaf village uniform.

"Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said. "Sorry."

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kakashi said tossing Naruto his pouch of ninja tools.

Naruto smirked and put the pouch back in place then spun around as two more snow ninja arrived but they too shed their uniforms to reveal Lee and Sai.

"Where are the girls?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura and Ino are on their way and Hinata is scouting for the fastest way out," Sai said.

Sakura and Ino landed beside them just as a single, high-pitched scream rang out through the base.

"Hinata!" Naruto said running after her.

The others followed and after a couple minutes, they reached the throne room where Nadare stood beside Doto holding Hinata by the hair with a kunai pressed against her throat.

"Another step and the bitch dies," Nadare said.

"Bad move," Naruto said.

He placed a seal on Nadare's back but before he could teleport to it, Nadare placed his hand over it then placed his hand over Hinata's mouth. Naruto could sense that he had used a jutsu to force the seal down Hinata's throat and into her stomach. If he teleported to it now, he would reappear in her stomach and kill her. He released the seal and it faded. Then, he glared at Nadare with more hatred than he had shown anyone except Tobi.

"Congratulations Koyuki," Doto said. "That was an excellent performance."

"Koyuki?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll take that Hex Crystal now," Doto said.

Koyuki walked up to him and handed him the necklace then turned to the others.

"This shouldn't be a surprise to any of you," Koyuki said. "I am an actress."

"There you have it," Doto said. "Another spectacular act by Yukie Fujikaze."

"Yes," Koyuki said drawing Sandayu's tanto from her cloak and removing it from its sheath. "It was all an act.

She then turned and drove the tanto into Doto's ribcage. Doto stumbled back a look of surprise on his face.

"You wretched..." Doto said grabbing Koyuki by the throat.

"I always...knew I would...die here..." Koyuki choked out. "It was...thanks to...you...Naruto...that I could...stop running away."

"Don't do it!" Naruto said.

"I'm sorry father...Sandayu," Koyuki said.

Then, with one final push, she and Doto fell off of the raised platform the throne was on and fell twenty five feet to the floor. They landed hard and Everyone stared in shock.

"Princess Koyuki!" Lee said running forward but when he neared her, Doto's fist crashed into his face sending him flying then Doto laughed.

"You really thought you could kill me did you?" Doto asked. "With this little toy?"

He undid his robe's belt and the knife fell out and hit the ground. Then Doto let his robe fall to the ground and revealed his black chakra armor with blue highlights. It had wings like Fubuki's and the power source was on the chest with two tubes running out of it and over his left shoulder.

"That's right," Doto said. "It's chakra armor. Our latest prototype."

Koyuki suddenly groaned and rolled onto her side coughing. Doto picked her up and Lee ran forward.

"Oh no you don't!" Lee said but Doto spun around and smashed him away again.

"You're wasting your time," Doto said. "The only one of you who has a chance of stopping me has had every ounce of his chakra sealed. Come. Let us go Koyuki. Beyond the Rainbow."

Koyuki stared at him and he extended his wings just as the ceiling exploded. Naruto glanced at Hinata and smirked then threw a kunai attached to a rope to Koyuki. It wrapped around her arm and Naruto was pulled out of the castle with her and Doto just as a Naruto clone dropped from the ceiling and smashed his fists into Nadare's head. Nadare's grip on Hinata loosened and she drove her elbow into his stomach and he doubled over. Hinata leapt away from him and he threw the kunai after her but the Naruto clone blocked it with himself and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Doto looked down after exiting the cloud of smoke left from the explosion and saw Naruto trailing.

"No hitchhikers," Doto said.

He flew down and his razor sharp wing cut the rope. Naruto began to fall.

"Perfect," Naruto said as he began to pick up speed.

"Naruto!" Koyuki screamed as Doto hovered to watch his handiwork.

Naruto quickly lost track of distance and smashed down through the branches of trees then onto the ground. Then Doto turned and began to fly away laughing.

Naruto stood and began limping after Doto. He wasn't going to let a broken arm, leg, and rib stop him. After a moment, the director, cameraman, and the director's assistant pulled up on a snow cart.

"Hop on," the director said hitting his megaphone on the rail.

Naruto grinned and limped over then they began to drive after Doto. Doto landed in the middle of the Rainbow Glacier and walked up to a small shrine where there was a small hexagonal hole in three hexagonal depressions. He placed the Hex Crystal in the hole, twisted it, then pushed it the rest of the way in. the shrine lit up blindingly bright in a pillar of light then the light spread along lines of ice spikes sticking out of the ground. From above the light looked like a huge snowflake. Finally the light reached the glaciers which all lit up.

Miles away, the others were all running with the exception of Kakashi who had gone the other way to face Nadare. Fubuki was throwing kunai that had ice bombs on the end that generated huge razor sharp ice spikes.

"What do we do Sakura?" Ino asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Sakura asked. "Hold on."

She ducked as Fubuki flew over her then looked around. After a moment, she caught up to the others.

"Lee," Sakura said. "That branch. Now."

Lee threw a few kunai and created a mass of wires between the branch she had pointed at and the branch under it. Mizore was snow boarding toward them on a chakra powered board and Sakura began throwing kunai at him. The kunai smashed on his chakra armor's shields but the pouches on the end opened releasing hundreds of tiny paper bombs. Mizore dropped off his board and caught a tag and stared at it then up at Sakura.

"Sakura Blizzard Jutsu," Sakura said. "Enjoy!"

She threw one last kunai with a full size paper bomb and when it exploded, the small ones did as well. The concussion sent Fubuki spinning into the wires. She used her wings to break the wire then began jumping backward on the tree branches.

"It'll take more than that to bring us down," Fubuki said.

Lee suddenly appeared behind her and grinned.

"Now that I'm fully recovered," Lee said, "let's try this."

He swung his arms forward wrapping her in his bandages then leapt into the air, flipped over, and began spinning.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee said but Sai appeared and grabbed Fubuki throwing her into Mizore.

Their armor's power sources smashed into each other and exploded killing both. Miles away Kakashi finally caught up with Nadare.

"You really think you've got a shot?" Nadare asked. "Maybe you ought to turn tail and run like last time."

"I don't have a choice do I?" Kakashi asked. "At least I can show you one of my original techniques."

Kakashi formed his Lightning Blade and Nadare simply grinned.

"Wolf Fang Avalanche!" Nadare said.

Snow began to explode down the mountain and formed enormous white wolves. Kakashi jumped over the wolves and Nadare stumbled back a step. Then a wolf landed in front of him and lunged at Kakashi. Kakashi put his Lightning Blade in front of himself and it destroyed the wolf then collided with Nadare's barrier. It exploded and Nadare jumped back. His armor's power source broke as he landed and he grinned.

"Almost had me there," Nadare said.

Just then another avalanche hit and they both jumped off the cliff they had been on. A moment later Kakashi's arms locked around Nadare's chest and Nadare tried and failed to break free.

"Even without Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, a ninja always has Taijutsu," Kakashi said. "You rely too much on this armor."

Kakashi then smashed Nadare into the rocky ledge below them head first. Then he landed beside him. Nadare stood on his head for a moment then collapsed.

At the Crystal Glacier, the light had faded but the six cliff faces were glowing rainbow. There was a thick mist accompanied by a hissing sound. The light from the glaciers faded and Doto stepped back from the shrine looking around for the treasure he had sought.

"I don't see it," Doto said. "The treasure, where is it?"

As if on cue, steam began exploding out from cracks in the ice. Hot water began flowing over the ice and the air began heating up so fast that the ice and snow was melting within minutes.

"It's so warm," Koyuki said. "What is this?"

"A heat generator?" Doto asked. "THIS IS THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF THE KAZAHANA CLAN!?"

"KOYUKI!" Naruto shouted causing Doto to whip his head around.

Naruto jumped off of the Director's cart with his broken bones freshly healed and began running toward Doto and Koyuki.

"Naruto!" Koyuki said.

Doto began forming hand seals then said, "Ice Style, Black Dragon Blizzard!"

He pulled his hand back then threw a jab and a thick black dragon shot out. It spiraled toward Naruto then leveled out and came alive. It opened its eyes and mouth, both of which glowed blood red, and roared.

Naruto tried to jump over it but it smashed into the ground under him and exploded sending him flying into the air.

"Naruto!" Koyuki shouted.

Naruto fell out of the sky smashing onto a frozen lake hard enough to send cracks halfway across it despite the ice being many feet thick.

"What's the matter?" Naruto said beginning to stand. "I hardly...felt a thing there. And I'm getting warm."

"Naruto, stop," Koyuki said. "He'll kill you."

"Have some faith," Naruto said. "I can win."

"How can you be up?" Doto asked. "You should be dead. Is it possible that the chakra is leaking out somehow?"

Doto shot forward and smashed his fist into Naruto's face sending him smashing into the lake. Naruto sank quickly and Koyuki assumed the worst and fell to her knees.

Hinata suddenly appeared with both hands covered in chakra the shape of lion heads. She smashed both into Doto's shield over his chest. They exploded and destroyed his shield and the explosion sent both of them flying. She landed hard against a huge piece of ice and fell to the ground.

"His armor is useless Naruto," Hinata said. "Finish it."

_"Kurama!" _Naruto shouted in his head. _"Grow a pair already!"_

Kurama growled and began pumping his chakra into the device until it finally shattered. Then he went back to being dormant. Naruto ripped the device off and created hundreds of clones. A moment later, he and the clones exploded out of the water.

"It's payback time!" They all shouted. "With interest Pal!"

"Come on ya little halfwit," Doto said making hand seals. "Twin Dragon Blizzard!"

One black dragon shot out of each hand and up at the clones. Then they began spinning and formed an enormous black tornado. Narutos began exploding right and left and finally Doto released the jutsu and the tornado faded.

"It's over," Doto said. "This ridiculous little farce is over!"

He began laughing but stopped when he sensed something powerful behind him. He turned around just as the smoke cleared revealing Naruto and one clone with a Rasengan between them.

"Damn right it's over!" Naruto said. "It just won't end the way you thought it would. This story will have a happy ending."

"Naruto!" Koyuki shouted. "I believe in you. You are the strongest ninja I've ever known!"

"I could have told you that," Naruto said. "I think I did once."

Naruto charged forward just as the sun came out and all of the cliff faces caught the reflection seeming to glow. Naruto's Rasengan suddenly turned rainbow colors and Koyuki gasped.

"Rainbow chakra," Koyuki said. "How does that exist?"

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he neared Doto.

Doto smashed a Naruto but it exploded into smoke and the real Naruto smashed the Rasengan into Doto's chest. The power source exploded the rest of the way and then the Rasengan exploded sending Doto flying. He crashed into a glacier and the layer of ice shattered. The ice and snow all over the Land of Snow instantly melted and the air warmed instantly as Winter turned to Spring in under a minute. Koyuki looked around in shock then over at the center over the shrine. A saucer of light appeared and the image of a young Koyuki appeared.

"Believe in the future," the voice of Sosetsu Kazahana said. "If you do, the Spring will surely come. What will you do when it comes Koyuki?"

"I'm going to become...a Princess," the young Koyuki said.

"Oh?" Sosetsu said. "What sort of Princess."

"Hm...let's see," the young Koyuki said. "One who's strong, and who's kind, and most of all, one who fights for justice!"

Sosetsu laughed then said, "That's some dream."

"Did I...did I actually say those things?" Koyuki asked.

"Well," Sosetsu said. "So long as you believe in your dream and never give up, one day you'll be that princess."

The image of Sosetsu appeared and moved to stand beside the young Koyuki. He placed the Hex Crystal around her neck then rested his hands on her shoulders.

"You can see her can't you?" Sosetsu asked. "There's a beautiful princess standing right there in front of you."

The young Koyuki was facing her future self which made it a tiny bit creepy. No one paid that fact any mind, however. A tear slid down Koyuki's face as she stared at the image of her father.

"But, I have sort of a problem," the young Koyuki said. "There's something else I want to be."

"Really, what's that?" Sosetsu asked.

"An actress!" the young Koyuki said beaming.

"What?" Sosetsu asked in surprise before laughing kindly, a laugh that the present Koyuki joined in.

Naruto smiled then limped over to Hinata who was just stirring.

"Did I miss it?" Hinata asked sitting up as Naruto knelt beside her.

"You should have seen it," Naruto said. "He was begging me for mercy and to let him be my slave. Naturally I refused."

"Now now Naruto," Kakashi said. "Let's not fill her head with too many stories."

"You're no fun," Naruto said.

Hinata laughed then leaned on Naruto's shoulder and smiled.

"That generator wasn't even fully developed," Koyuki said a few weeks later after her coronation.

"I guess it'll be back to winter soon then huh?" Sakura asked.

"Not really," Koyuki said. "If we take what we know, and continue researching, before you know it, the Land of Snow will be called the Land of Spring."

"Yeah but, it's kind of a shame," Sakura said. "You're such a big star, are you really going to retire from acting?"

"Who said I was retiring?" Koyuki asked. "Ruling over the Land of Snow and acting? I think I can handle both. I mean I'd have to be out of my mind to give it up now."

"Th-that script," Kakashi said pointing.

"Well," Koyuki said turning. "I'll be seeing you."

She ran off and the others simply stared after her. After a moment several children ran over and began asking for autographs. Koyuki smiled and began to sign their papers.

"That...script..." Kakashi said. "She's...perfect."

"Oh that reminds me," Lee said. "She wanted me to give you this Naruto."

He held out and envelope and Naruto opened it then pulled out a signed picture. The picture was the problem. Naruto had spent a day in the hospital unconscious while they tried to surgically remove a piece of chakra armor that had gotten lodged in his hand after his fight with Doto. The picture was of Koyuki kissing him on the cheek while he was bandaged heavily and unconscious.

"I think you two make a cute couple," Hinata said.

"Very funny," Naruto said. "Kakashi's about ready to propose after seeing that script."

"I didn't read it," Sakura said. "What was it?"

"Make-out Paradise The Movie," Naruto said.

Sakura stared at him in shock then slapped Kakashi.

"What's Make-out Paradise?" Hinata asked.

"I'll loan you my book some time," Kakashi said.

"Oh no you don't," Naruto said. "That's the last thing Hinata needs to read. Plus anyone that saw her reading it would either kill her or, worse, tell her father."

"She could hide it and she would do well to know a thing or two about it," Kakashi said.

"Sometimes I have a hard time deciding which is worse between you and Jiraiya," Naruto said.

"What is the book though?" Hinata asked.

"Excellent," Kakashi said.

"A porno," Naruto said. "Jiraiya wrote it about his experiences with sex."

"Eeww!" Hinata said.

"Fine," Kakashi said.

They all laughed then said their good byes and headed home. They had a lot to do and a long way to go.

THE END

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	19. Chapter 19

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to get to Shippuden so that I can picture things better. Plus I can make them act more natural instead of being twelve and acting sixteen or eighteen.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

While the Freak's Away

After returning to the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto found out that Jiraiya had decided that Naruto needed to leave the village to train. They would be traveling with Killer B and Yugito Nii. Killer B would be trying to teach Naruto to control Kurama while Yugito had Matatabi keep Kurama from taking control. None of them would listen when Naruto told them that Kurama wasn't the problem.

* * *

Hinata wasn't allowed to go with Naruto because her father refused to allow it and was less than pleased that Hinata was dating a hanyou to begin with. Her main argument was that she wanted to help keep Naruto under control but even Tsunade couldn't make her father back off. Finally, after weeks of arguing, Naruto finally left and Hinata was locked in her room for a month for trying to go with him. When she was let out, Neji was charged with keeping her in the village so he spent his time training her.

* * *

Kiba began taking regular runs between the Leaf and Cloud villages for training. People didn't understand why he didn't just train like a normal shinobi until he returned with a redheaded Cloud village kunoichi who wanted to see the village. People naturally jumped to conclusions everywhere between she was a spy and she was his girlfriend. That was the first and last time she went to the Leaf village but Kiba's trips to her village became more often and longer until he was staying for a month or more each time.

* * *

Shino visited Hanna daily while she was in the hospital and once she was out, she kept her promise and went on a date with him. After that date, they began to spend more and more time together until they seemed to be with each other constantly all day from the time they woke up, to the time they went to sleep, sometimes even after that. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms several times over the course of the next two years and no one said anything even though rumors were circulating that they were already engaged.

* * *

Neji and Tenten didn't actually start dating but they did start spending a lot more time together. They trained together all the time and soon Neji was almost as good with weapons as Tenten. Tenten was almost as fast as Neji which helped her a lot because she would be able to attack and dodge attacks at the same time. They seemed for all the world to be just friends and be together at the same time.

* * *

Lee and Sakura went on multiple dates and grew closer all the while Lee was training Sakura so that she could be as fast as him, or close to it. Sakura still cared about Sasuke a lot and Lee knew it but neither brought it up.

* * *

Sai and Ino were the biggest surprise, however. They started dating immediately after their mission in the Land of Snow and within three weeks they were engaged. It wasn't that Ino was rushing it but she somehow was the only person who didn't seem to notice that she was the only thing Sai seemed to have any emotions toward. Toward everything else, he seemed completely cold.

* * *

Every day after the first month, Hinata went to Tsunade's office to see if Naruto had returned and every day she got the same answer, no. Finally she gave up and asked Tsunade to tell her when Naruto was expected to arrive. Tsunade agreed and Hinata began devoting all of her time to training. She still waited anxiously for Naruto to return.

THE END


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Return

"Calm down sport," Jiraiya said. "We have to go see Tsunade."

"But she's not far," Naruto said. "I can smell her!"

"You could smell her if she were in the Hidden Sand Village," Jiraiya said.

"So?" Naruto asked.

"Come on," Jiraiya said. "You can go see her after we get done. And would you quite hiding your ears and tail?"

Naruto had learned to keep a near permanent transformation jutsu to hide his hanyou additions so that he looked completely human. He still let the whisker marks and claws show because he had always had the whisker marks and the claws were useful. The rest he didn't need and didn't want. His training had ruined his clothes plus he had outgrown them a lot. He had replaced his old uniform with a orange jacket with black shoulders and sleeves and black running down the zipper. His pants were orange and his sandles black, as was his new, longer bandana. He could smell Hinata less than a mile away but Jiraiya wasn't going to drop it so Naruto decided to make Jiraiya happy and see Hinata.

"I'll send a clone with you," Naruto said.

"You really want to see her don't you?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes!" Naruto said.

"It'll take five minutes at the most," Jiraiya said. "You've been away for almost three years, I'm sure she'll live for five more minutes."

"He's right," Yugito said.

"You are so not helping," Naruto said.

"Give the kid a break," B said. "Bein' away ain't no piece o' cake."

"You really aren't helping," Naruto said. "You either hush or stop rapping."

B sighed and nodded and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Let's get this over with then," Naruto said. "I'm only staying there for five minutes."

Jiraiya laughed then nodded and they all headed to Tsunade's office. When they arrived Tsunade stared at Naruto in surprise then smiled and stood.

"Welcome home Naruto," Tsunade said. "How'd it go?"

"Good," Naruto said. "Jiraiya can tell you the specifics."

"You're dismissed," Tsunade said knowing he wanted to go see Hinata. "I'm sure she'll be as happy to see you as you will be to see her."

Naruto smiled and nodded then teleported away to a seal he had placed at the front gate. Then he went to the field where Neji and Hinata were training. They were sparring and Neji was using weapons as much as he was gentle fist. He wasn't just using weapons, he was summoning them from scrolls like Tenten. Hinata was using Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists and Neji was the one who spotted Naruto. Naruto placed a finger to his lips and Neji smirked. Naruto then placed a seal on Hinata's back and teleported to her pinning her arms to her sides in a hug. She was confused for about a half second but some part of her knew that he was there even before she had actually realized it. After a moment of halfheartedly struggling against him, she twisted her head around and kissed him. His grip loosened enough for her to turn around and they continued to kiss for a couple more minutes until Tenten arrived.

"Aaww," Tenten said. "You two are so cute together. Nice to see you again Naruto."

"You too Tenten," Naruto said smirking. "I see you trained Neji to fight with weapons."

"I did do good didn't I?" Tenten asked.

"You're late," Shino said landing on the edge of the field with Hana beside him holding his hand.

"Nice to see you Hana," Naruto said. "Who are you?"

"The bug kid," Neji said.

"Oh, Shino," Naruto said.

"At least you remembered me," Shino said.

"Naruto!" Sakura said appearing right behind him and glaring at him. "Why'd you have to grow taller than me?"

"So Lee trained you huh?" Naruto asked. "Wanna race?"

"We all know you're fastest in the village," Sakura said.

"Hello again Naruto!" Lee said appearing beside Sakura.

"Hey Lee," Naruto said. "Where's Kiba?"

"He'll be back from his trip to the Cloud village by tomorrow," Shikamaru said landing on a branch next to Shino and Hana.

"And Temari?" Naruto asked.

"Here," Temari said landing beside him. "Had to tell Ino and Sai you were here."

"She was right," Sai said landing beside Sakura. "I'm surprised. Where are your ears and tail?"

"Sai," Naruto said. "You seem slightly less emotionless than when I left."

"I'm working on him," Ino said landing beside Sai. "It's slow going. You're better at changing people than me."

"True," Naruto said. "I am better at that. Now we're just waiting for Kakashi."

"We'll be waiting for a while," Hinata said activating her Byakugan to look around the nearby area.

"I know," Naruto said smirking. "He's with Hanare. How could he possibly be on time?"

"I resent that remark," Kakashi said appearing behind Naruto with Hanare.

"It's true," Naruto said smiling and turning around. "So, is Sai still on Team seven?"

"Yes," Kakashi said. "One thing you should know is that everyone is a chunin except you now."

"I figured," Naruto said. "Although, technically I could be a jounin if I tried for it."

"True," Hinata said. "So could I if I didn't have to face Lee and Sakura."

"What about you Neji?" Naruto asked.

"Jounin," Neji said. "Me and the Sand Siblings already made it there."

"Figures," Naruto said. "Guess I'll be busy for a while."

"Not quite," Kakashi said. "Team seven just got a new mission. Unfortunately, it's not going to be with me."

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Moryo's Ghost Army has been awakened," Kakashi said.

"Who's Moryo and are they actually ghosts?" Naruto asked.

"Moryo is a demon and the army is living statues," Kakashi said.

"I'll handle the army," Naruto said.

"Nope," Kakashi said. "You, Neji, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura are all being sent to protect the Priestess of the Land of Ogres while the rest of us fight the army."

"Aw," Naruto said. "I wanted to fight."

"Maybe you'll be lucky and we'll be able to fight Moryo," Hinata said.

"Don't hope for that," Sai said. "Moryo is created by Man's hate. He'd be nearly unstoppable if he gets his body back."

"If you say so," Naruto said. "So, where's Sai going to be?"

"Dropping bombs on the Ghost Army," Kakashi said.

"Good," Naruto said. "Well, better get moving then."

"What's the rush?" Neji asked. "You just barely got back."

"The sooner this Priestess does her thing, the sooner I can fight the Ghost Army," Naruto said.

"Actually, if she succeeds the Ghost Army should die," Kakashi said.

"Crap," Naruto said.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said. "I'm sure that part of the Ghost Army will clear Moryo's way to his body. You can destroy them if you want."

Naruto smirked then sighed and looked around.

"If any of you don't make it through this I'll kill you," Naruto said.

"And here I thought you got smarter over the course of your training," Neji said.

"I did," Naruto said. "One ability I really like is this."

Naruto stepped up on thin air and began to stand on the air.

"How did you..." Neji began.

"As I said," Naruto said. "I could be a jounin if I tried. This is actually very easy. To stand on a wall or water you have to release the chakra from through your feet. When it's air you want to stand on, you simply hold the chakra in your feet because there's nothing actually there."

"It can't be that simple," Neji said.

"That's all he's doing," Hinata said looking at his feet with her Byakugan.

"How'd you figure that out?" Sakura asked.

"Yugito showed me," Naruto said. "Matatabi showed her."

"I never knew anyone could do it," Kakashi said.

Naruto dropped back to the ground and smirked.

"It's harder to get used to but it's easier to do," Naruto said.

"This is going to be a very interesting mission," Naruto said.

"It's a good thing I'm going," Neji said. "Now Lord Hiashi might not assume Naruto got Hinata pregnant."

Naruto and Hinata both blushed and stepped away from each other. Hinata began twiddling her fingers and Naruto began rubbing the back of his head.

"Wow," Sakura said. "I didn't think anyone could turn as red as Hinata."

"I've never seen Hinata that red anyway," Ino said. "That just makes it worse for Naruto."

"The reason for both is that we've never talked about Naruto and Hinata sleeping together before," Shino said.

"I think Naruto's considered it judging by the color of his face," Kakashi said smirking.

"Enough already!" Naruto groaned covering his face with his hands. "Good friggin lord you guys are annoying."

"He's right," Neji said. "We all know that Naruto and Hinata aren't sleeping together. Why don't we stop making fun of them before we tick off the most powerful ninja currently alive?"

"What was that?" Hiashi asked landing on a branch away from the others so that he could see them all without his Byakugan. "Did someone just say my daughter was sleeping with this-"

"This...what?" Naruto asked. "What was that word?"

"Freak," Hiashi said deciding not to make Naruto too angry.

"They're not," Neji said.

"That's good," Hiashi said. "I would have had to kill them both."

"You can go right ahead and try," Naruto said. "But you'll be the only one who would need a funeral."

"Is that a threat?" Hiashi asked.

"It's a warning," Naruto said.

"You think you can take me?" Hiashi asked.

"Ask any of them," Naruto said gesturing around.

"Neji?" Hiashi asked.

"Could he kill you?" Neji asked. "Easily. Would he? Without a doubt, if you threatened Hinata."

"I don't believe you," Hiashi said. "Do you all agree with Neji?"

"Yes," they all said.

"I think I could take a little brat like you," Hiashi said. "I'm not going to fight you, though. There are better ways to hurt a warrior. Instead, I'll tear Hinata's insides out then wrap them in her skin and mail them to you."

"If you so much as yell at her again," Naruto said his voice barely audible but his tone unmistakably dripping with fury, "I will tear you into tiny pieces and feed you to Kurama."

"He's inside you," Hiashi said.

"If you hurt her, he wouldn't be," Naruto said.

"You wouldn't dare release him," Hiashi said. "Even to protect her. You would never endanger the village."

"Try me," Naruto said.

"So you really are threatening me now," Hiashi said.

"You want to see my threat?" Naruto asked placing a seal just behind Hiashi. "Watch carefully."

Naruto teleported top the seal and punched Hiashi in the face. Hiashi flew back and through three trees breaking his arm and his rib then stood and glared at Naruto.

"I refuse to lose to a hanyou!" Hiashi said. "If that's your threat, I'll show you mine."

Hiashi suddenly appeared behind Naruto and hit him in a pressure point with gentle fist. It was a very cheap move that was capable of, and always succeeded in, causing a massive amount of pain that would have debilitated Naruto if he hadn't trained himself to not feel pain as much. The pain was still bad enough that Naruto had to fight a scream, though. Once the pain had subsided, Naruto spun around and grabbed Hiashi's good hand and squeezed crushing three of his fingers and dislocating another.

"W...what...are you?" Hiashi asked through his own pain.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "The man that's going to kill you if you ever threaten Hinata again."

With that, Naruto spun and threw Hiashi into a tree where he collapsed. Sakura ran over and healed Hiashi's injuries then carried him to the hospital. When she got back, nobody spoke. Naruto was sitting on a tree branch leaning his back against the tree and Hinata was sitting in his lap leaning against him with her head on his shoulder. Neji was sitting on a tree branch a good distance away with Tenten beside her. Naruto was very unhappy with having attack Hiashi like that and only Hinata knew why. Kurama was gaining control more an more when Naruto lost his temper. Kurama had fueled Naruto's anger until Naruto would have actually killed Hiashi if he hadn't calmed himself down. Naruto needed to deal with Kurama, soon. If he didn't, he was afraid of what might happen. Of course, he was afraid of what might happen if he did too.

"Naruto," Kakashi finally said. "Did what I think just happened, actually happen?"

"Probably," Naruto said. "You catch quite a bit."

"That's a fair sized problem you know," Kakashi said. "It wasn't even him either. You know that right? That was the same problem as the Valley of the End. Your friend was trying to hold it back. That's why you felt him."

"I see," Naruto said. "Then I suppose that makes a difference. Know of anyway to stop it?"

"No," Kakashi said.

"I do," Yugito said landing beside Kakashi. "Nobody knows this but there was another Jinchuriki of the two-tailed beast before me. He was also the first Tailed-beast Hanyou ever. You are the second."

"Don't I feel lucky," Naruto said.

"You should," Yugito said. "You see, he also had your problem."

"And how did he solve it?" Naruto asked.

"He died," Yugito said. "He never finished. But he knew how. He knew that if the Two-tails could be separated from its chakra, his body would stabalize. He would be a hanyou for the rest of his life and that trait would eventually be passed to any children he had, but his problem would have ended."

"So if I ever have children, I'm going to pass my curse on to them?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Yugito said. "But it's not a curse."

"The fuck it's not!" Naruto said angrily standing. "You have no idea what it's like! Everywhere I go people look at me like I'm a monster! Sure it was bad when I was young, but now it makes my childhood look like the perfect dream! This fucking jutsu is the only way I can go anywhere without people trying to drive me out! The one time they did I almost..."

Naruto clamped his mouth shut, balled his fists, and struggled to calm down. As he did, his anger only grew and his tail and ears reappeared. His claws grew another three inches and his teeth grew back into points and he could feel his snout trying to grow.

"Run," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"Naruto," Hinata said cupping his face and making him look at her. "You're not a monster. You can control this. I know you can."

"It's...too...late," Naruto said. "Kakashi...get her...out of...here."

"I'm not leaving you," Hinata said. "You can stop this."

"No," Naruto said. "I...can't. Looks like...I'm not...the only...thing...to...return."

Kakashi suddenly appeared and picked Hinata up, then all of them retreated as fast as they could as they felt an explosion of chakra behind them where they had left Naruto. Naruto's fur had covered his entire body and his clothes. His claws were now half a foot long and his tail had split into nine. He was once again, a miniature Kurama, and once again, he was completely out of control.

THE END

* * *

Read and review


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. WARNING: this is the beginning of the complete AU starting with a new Jinchuriki.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Soothing the Savage Beast

"We have to save him!" Hinata said when Kakashi finally stopped but held her wrist to keep her from returning to Naruto.

"We will," Kakashi said.

No sooner had he said that did three thousand ANBU leap overhead and make their way to Naruto. They moved like they were at war which they probably thought they were. The truth was, they were heading to a bloodbath and everyone Naruto knew knew it.

"They can't win," Hinata said.

"They'll still try," Kakashi said. "Naruto's not going to take this very well when we tell him."

The ANBU arrived within a minute and landed behind him. The first wave of fifty leapt forward drawing swords and streaming their chakra through it. One ANBU launched a Wind Blade Jutsu at Naruto but before any of the shinobi or the jutsu could make it half way, Naruto wheeled around swinging his arm through the air and sending red chakra senbon into all of the ANBU. One senbon went through each shinobi's heart and the shinobi exploded into a cloud of dust. They had just enough time to scream before they died. The Wind Blade jutsu hit Naruto in the face but shattered like glass.

"He...killed them all," Hinata said. "I have to stop him!"

"You can't!" Kakashi said grabbing her.

"Matatabi will keep him under control," Yugito said running off toward Naruto.

"No!" Hinata said. "Matatabi can't help him!"

Suddenly, half the jounin from the Hidden Leaf Village along with a large portion of the jounin of the Hidden Cloud Village all passed overhead and headed toward Naruto. Killer B landed beside Kakashi and groaned.

"Yugito knows about Naruto's problem but refuses to listen to me," Hinata said. "Get her back here."

"Naruto has to die," B said. "Unless you know a way to bring him back to himself."

"I do," Hinata said. "If you would let me go!"

Kakashi shook his head.

"You can't save him this time," Kakashi said. "He's gone, Hinata."

"You said we could save him not five minutes ago!" Hinata said.

"We can save him," Kakashi said. "From his curse."

"No!" Hinata said paralyzing Kakashi with gentle fist. "Get me to Naruto."

B nodded and picked Hinata up then carried her after the other jounin. When they arrived, bodies littered the trees. Where it had been peaceful before, it was now unsettling to the point that Hinata didn't want to go any further. B set her down on a branch and Hinata looked around. Yugito was pinned to a tree by a piece of blade through her shoulder. It looked very painful and the tree below her was coated in fresh blood. B leapt over to her and sighed in relief.

"She's alive," B said. "I'm sorry but I have to get her to a hospital."

Hinata nodded and B pulled the piece of blade out of Yugito's shoulder then left. Kakashi landed beside Hinata less than a second later and tried to pick up Hinata.

"Don't touch me!" Hinata said. "I can save him!"

Naruto saw them and roared. The sound was deep and more unnerving than the surrounding area but Hinata still leapt toward Naruto while Kakashi flinched at Naruto's roar. Even Kakashi was afraid of Naruto. With good reason, of course.

Naruto growled seeing Hinata moving forward and crouched readying himself to fight. Hinata landed on a branch a couple of meters away and stopped holding her hands up.

"Naruto," Hinata said. "Please, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help."

"NO!" Naruto shouted in a mix between a roar and his own voice. "YOU NEED TO...LEAVE! IT'S...TOO LATE!"

"No it's not!" Hinata said. "Please. You can fight this. I know you can."

"I...CAN'T!" Naruto said.

"Yes you can," Hinata said. "Please. I need you. Naruto please! I love you, and I need you! Please don't give up!"

Naruto began to shake then roared again and held his arm out. The arm extended and the hand grew until it could wrap around Hinata's entire body. Just before it grabbed her, Guy grabbed her and pulled her out of the way.

"Words can't stop him," Guy said. "Only music can sooth the savage beast."

"Don't even start!" Kakashi said. "What you do isn't singing. It's torture and it makes Tsukuyomi feel like a massage."

Just then the hand flashed up and smashed Guy toward Kakashi then grabbed Hinata. Then it pulled her back toward Naruto stopping just in front of him. Hinata didn't flinch and Naruto set her down directly in front of him.

"What's he doing?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto took Hinata's hand and placed it on his head then growled and his eyes suddenly began to glow white. Hinata's eyes also began to glow and Guy tried to get to her but Kakashi stopped him when Hanare arrived and told him to.

"It's a mental jutsu," Hanare said. "He pulled her into his mind."

Hinata opened her eyes and looked around. There was a huge set of prison cell doors set into an enormous wall that she assumed was part of the boundary between Naruto's mind and Kurama's. She continued looking around and noticed two other things. First, was that the floor was covered in a thick red liquid that Hinata somehow knew was blood. The second thing was that a fair distance behind her there was a sphere of light. The sphere was clearly a prison and Naruto was inside of it. The blood was coming from an enormous hold in his chest and running out of the sphere through a similar hole. A miniature Kurama was beside the sphere holding a round red ball that was coated in blood and was throbbing. Hinata knew it was Naruto's heart instantly and covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

"Hi...na...ta," Naruto said weakly pointing at the cage.

Hinata nodded and ran over to the cage then up the front.

"If I let you out will you save Naruto?" Hinata asked. "And then go back into your cage quietly?"

"Yes," Kurama said. "That abomination has to go. It nearly killed my girlfriend and my container."

"You can kill it?" Hinata asked.

"No," Kurama said. "But Naruto can. All he needs is to be able to move."

Hinata ripped the seal off the cage and Kurama pushed the doors open then charged out and hit the miniature him away. Hinata caught Naruto's heart then pushed it through the hole in the sphere. Naruto pushed it back into his chest which instantly healed then teleported to the seal that he still had on Hinata's back.

In the real world, the moment Hinata removed the seal on Kurama, Naruto expanded to a full size Kurama and Hinata was standing on his snout with her hand between his eyes. When he teleported to the seal in his mind, in the real world he roared and a sonic boom leveled the surrounding area. The roar actually came from the miniature Kurama who was outraged about both Naruto and Kurama being free.

Naruto drew a kunai and smirked.

"Want to see what I can do inside of my mind?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Sure," Hinata said.

Naruto smiled and sealed himself, Kurama, Hinata, and the abomination all inside a large round room about a mile across and a mile tall. Then, he covered every inch except for a small circle with teleportation seals. Hinata took the hint and stood in the circle and Naruto held out his hand.

"Lend me a hand?" Naruto asked.

Hinata held her hand over his and understood he meant for her to help him form a Rasengan. They both gathered chakra and formed a Rasengan. The Rasengan wasn't the standard blue that it generally was. This Rasengan was white with a hint of lavender like Hinata's Byakugan. The moment Naruto noticed this, an image of a Byakugan appeared inside the Rasengan.

"Suck it freak," Naruto said teleporting around randomly to disorient the abomination before appearing in front of it and smashing the Rasengan into his face. "Byakurasengan!"

The Rasengan shot away from Naruto's hand dragging the abomination with it and Naruto let his mindscape return to the way it had been before then sealed both the abomination and the Byakurasengan in a sphere of light. The Byakurasengan exploded and the sphere cracked heavily but held. The explosion finally ended and the smoke cleared to reveal the abomination standing and swaying in the sphere. Then it fell forward and when he hit the side of the sphere, the entire sphere shattered and the abomination landed hard on the ground. Naruto walked over and created an enormous sword then drove it through the abomination's head. The abomination shone white then faded and Naruto sighed in relief then turned toward Kurama.

"Go back to your cage," Naruto said. "I'll take your chakra later."

Kurama stared at Naruto for a while then sniffed and whined like a worried dog while walking back to his cage.

"Hurry back to the hospital please," Kurama said.

Naruto nodded and allowed himself and Hinata to return to the real world. When he had destroyed the abomination he had returned to his hanyou form but with two tails now. Then, he had fallen onto his back and Hinata hand landed on top of him. Now, he opened his eyes and groaned then looked down and blushed and Hinata opened her eyes and also blushed realizing their position. She rolled off of him and stood then helped him up and he groaned before looking around.

"Jeez," Naruto said. "So many. Did I...really do all this?"

"No," Hinata said. "You weren't you."

"True," Naruto said. "I don't think the Leaf Village will feel the same way."

"Then the Sand village will happily accept you," Temari said landing on a branch that was free of bodies. "You'd better hurry to the hospital. Yugito isn't looking too good."

Naruto nodded then ran to the hospital with Hinata. When they arrived, jounin from both the Leaf and Cloud Villages shrank away from him. He ignored them and walked into Yugito's room to see B trying hard to keep a straight face while Yugito asked him to say goodbye to A for her. B nodded then looked around to see Naruto and stood.

"This is your fault," B said.

"I know," Naruto said. "Yugito, Kurama would like to speak with Matatabi."

"Okay," Yugito said.

"What's he mean?" Hinata asked.

"Jinchuriki can allow their tailed beasts to talk to each other by temporarily taking control of their hosts," B said. "Whatever Naruto says or does, just remember that it's not actually him, it's Kurama and Matatabi."

"Okay," Hinata said.

Naruto and Yugito both closed their eyes and when Naruto opened his, the irises were red with slit pupils like Kurama's. Yugito's had also changed. Her right eye was completely black with a yellow dot and her left was similar but with a green dot. Their voices had also changed. Yugito's sounded more regal and deeper while Naruto's was unmistakably Kurama's.

"Kurama," Matatabi said. "It's good to see you again. Your container, is he cured?"

"He is," Kurama said. "Your first container was wrong. He could had killed the abomination himself if someone had been able to reach him while the abomination was in control."

"Well I guess even the best fall down some times," Matatabi said smirking.

Kurama grinned and shook his head then sighed.

"Don't suppose there's any way to save you," Kurama said.

"No," Matatabi said. "My container's injury is too severe to be healed. I suppose there is one way but unfortunately the training Yugito went through was a bit too thorough. I can only be transferred to someone who's compatible with me."

"I don't suppose there's anyone like that around here," Kurama said half hopefully.

Matatabi looked at Hinata then looked back to Kurama. Kurama raised his eyebrows and grinned even more.

"That would work quite well for us and our containers," Kurama said. "But it would only be okay if she was okay with it...and prepared for the consequences."

"I know," Matatabi said. "What do you say Hinata? Will you save me by becoming my next Jinchuriki?"

"I...but..." Hinata said. "My father would-"

"Disown you," Kurama said. "The villagers would hate you as much as they do any Tailed-beast or Jinchuriki. Your friends and family would likely hate you except for those who have accepted Naruto and probably B. Other Jinchuriki will likely compare you to Yugito and the Cloud Village would believe you a cheap replacement for Yugito who was killed by your monster of a boyfriend. You would become almost as much of an ignominy as Naruto is."

Hinata stared at the ground for a moment then looked at Matatabi and nodded.

"Okay," Hinata said. "There's no point in two people dying needlessly. Of course, if Yugito had listened to me in the first place, you wouldn't need a new Jinchuriki."

"True," Matatabi said. "Kurama will transfer me. The jutsu will kill Yugito and will cause you great pain. Try to withstand it. B, have Gyuki hold her down and be ready to help if needed."

B nodded and closed his eyes then opened them revealing them to be completely white. He told Hinata to lay down on the other hospital bed then grew six tentacles. Four of them restrained her arms and legs, and two held her body down. Matatabi nodded to Kurama who stood between the beds back to the wall and Gyuki stood between the beds at the other end facing him.

"Are you ready?" Kurama asked Hinata.

"Yes," Hinata said.

"Then let's begin," Kurama said making hand seals. "Soul Transfer Jutsu."

He placed his hand on Matatabi's forehead then the other on Hinata's. A sphere of light passed out of Yugito and traveled along Kurama's arm then across his chest and down the other arm. The closer it got to Hinata the more pain she felt. Finally it touched her head and the pain went from a splitting headache to feeling like something was trying to cut its way into her head with a butter knife. She screamed in pain and as the ball of light began to pass into her the pain increased rapidly. She began seizing in agony and Gyuki held her down. The the sphere began to retract as Hinata's subconscious fought against the thing that was causing her pain.

"Gyuki!" Kurama said.

Gyuki held out his hand and began pushing the sphere back into Hinata's head and she began seizing harder and harder until the sphere finally disappeared into her head and she fell limp. Kurama sighed and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face then looked toward Yugito's body. Now that he was done the jutsu, he was aware that her heart monitor had flat-lined. He shut it off and allowed Naruto to retake control. Gyuki sighed and retracted his tails then looked around.

"Naruto," Gyuki said. "I think your emotions are beginning to have an effect on Kurama. He seems to care about Hinata."

"I know," Naruto said smiling. "He understands how I feel and he's beginning to side with me. I seem to have that effect on people. So, how long until she wakes up?"

"About an hour," Gyuki said just as the doctor and a nurse ran in.

"You're late," Naruto said. "She's already dead."

Gyuki allowed B to take control again and B left the room for the Hidden Cloud Village. Naruto sat down beside Hinata and explained to the doctors that she had passed out from exhaustion after stopping his rampage. The doctors accepted his explanation then left.

"You're brave Hinata," Naruto said. "Not many people would save a dying Tailed-beast and even less when they knew the repercussions. Me and Kurama both thank you. Him for saving his girlfriend and me for supporting me by deciding to bear the same torment alongside me. Kurama may not have picked up on that but I did, even without smelling your emotions."

"I thought you might," Hinata said weakly rolling over and smiling even more weakly. "If you can stand it, so can I."

Naruto smiled and shook his head.

"I never wanted you to have to bear this," Naruto said. "I never wanted anyone to have to bear this again. It's not something you can simply brush off. You'll see soon enough."

"I'll be fine as long as you're with me," Hinata said. "You will be, won't you?"

"Of course," Naruto said.

"Good," Hinata said. "Because we've still got a demon to kill so that we can stop the Ghost Army."

Naruto nodded and they went to Tsunade's office to tell her what had happened. Tsunade agreed that it was the right thing to do and thanked Hinata for stopping Naruto from doing any further damage. The main problem, however, was that the Hidden Leaf no longer had the military strength to fight the Ghost Army. Temari got Gaara to agree to have the Hidden Sand fight it too. B agreed to help as well and Naruto and his team left to escort the Priestess.

THE END

* * *

Read and review.


	22. Chapter 22

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Freaks Gather

Neji may have been the team captain but Naruto was the one in front. He was running backward as fast as Lee and Sakura could and Neji was struggling to keep up. Hinata was able to keep up, barely, because Matatabi had convinced Naruto to let her enhance Hinata the same way Kurama had meant to do Naruto. Hinata wouldn't be a hanyou but would be around as fast and strong as Naruto. She would have heightened senses but not as heightened as Naruto's. She would also be able to see better at night than she could during the day.

"Come on Captain," Naruto said. "You can do better than that."

"Shut...up...Naruto," Neji panted trying to keep moving. "Can we...slow down...now...so I...have...enough...energy...to...fight?"

"We're late," Naruto said. "I can carry you if you want."

"No," Neji said. "Lee can...I guess."

They stopped long enough for Neji to climb onto Lee's back then they took off again. Naruto gave Neji a few food pills so that he could get his energy back then they all sped up a bit so that they could get there sooner. Finally they reached the Priestess's village just after enemy shinobi seemed to have given the enormous number of dead soldiers. Naruto grinned and got an idea.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Be quiet about getting in after me okay?"

"Sure," Hinata said understanding.

"Okay then," Naruto said leaping into the village then to the temple.

"Pretty little Priestess," One of the shinobi said. "Your life is ours now."

"Hold it right there!" Naruto shouted. "You're not getting any way near her!"

He landed behind them then leapt over them and landed in front of the Priestess purposefully slipping on the fallen screen. The shinobi stared at him in amusement and confusion.

"What the hell?" A tall shinobi with white hair, a white robe, brown skin, enormous hands, and a handkerchief mask said confused.

"Why didn't he sneak up on us?" a medium height female with shoulder-length orange hair, black eyes, and white skin offset by blue lipstick and blue lines on the sides of her face and down the middle, a white robe with a hexagram symbol like the others, black gloves, a Shuriken holster on her right leg, and generic martial artist shoes asked. "He just launched in like a maniac. Is he as strong as we are?"

"Could be," a tall man with long dark blue hair, three blue boxes on his face, white robes, and a black undershirt said. "Or maybe he's just an idiot."

"Either way you look at it, he definitely isn't normal," the last shinobi, a man with long pink hair and pink eyes with black pupils, bangs covering his right eye, a white robe with a hexagram symbol, a dark blue shirt inside, black gloves, a belt with two Shuriken holsters, and martial artist shoes with golden anklets said. "I'd put my money on idiot, though."

"Or," Naruto said standing. "He's got a plan, and friends."

Just as he said this, Hinata landed behind the shinobi and paralyzed three before the one with the mask smashed her back. The other three all twitched then stood and cracked their necks.

"Not a bad plan," the one with the pink hair said. "Too bad gentle fist doesn't work too well on us."

"Then let's try me," Naruto said. "I can take all four of you."

"Gitai," the shinobi said. "If you would be so kind."

The one that had hit Hinata stepped forward and before he could take another, Naruto dropped onto his hands and spun swiping his leg out from under him then smashing both feet into him and sending him flying out the door before flipping back onto his feet. The other three stumbled back in surprise just as Lee and Sakura landed behind them and smashed the other two with facial markings away. The last swore and turned to leave but Neji smashed a steel baton into his stomach dropping him.

"Too easy," Naruto said. "Go get the Priestess. We should leave before they wake up."

"Why don't we just kill them?" Neji asked.

"No time," Naruto said. "We need to leave now. Moryo's nearing his body, Kurama's getting jumpy. Not scared jumpy, angry jumpy."

"I see," Neji said. "Okay, let's go."

They all went outside then to a waterfall behind the temple. Shion and her last living bodyguard were resting by the water while the bodyguard caught his breath. When Naruto and the others arrived he jumped up grabbing his sword but Naruto and the others all knelt and Neji introduced them.

"Are you alright?" Neji asked.

"Yes," Shion said. "Thank you. Your intervention was much appreciated. Your friend, however, needs to learn to fight."

"I took one of them out," Naruto said.

"I meant her," Shion said pointing at Hinata then froze.

Naruto understood why and understood why Hinata was staring at Shion in shock. They looked almost exactly alike. Their eyes and hair were different colors and their hair was cut differently but it was close enough that it was obvious that they could be twins if one wore contacts and died their hair. It was kind of unnerving but Naruto could already see a plan forming in Neji's eyes.

"No," Naruto said. "You're not using Hinata as bait."

"Actually it was going to be the other way around," Neji said. "We could make Shion look like Hinata then you and the real Hinata could go on ahead and we could keep Shion with us. Obviously if our strongest fighter were escorting one to the temple at almost triple the speed of the rest of us and five hundred times the speed of Moryo's army, she would be the first guess.

"So...bait," Naruto said.

"Okay," Neji said. "Yes. Bait. But you two can handle it better than any of us."

"How could she handle it?" Shion asked. "She can't fight, remember?"

"She's better than you think," Naruto said. "Sakura, get Shion ready."

Sakura took Shion into the temple for a makeover and Hinata gave her some of her spare clothes. Naruto took the time to send a couple of clones out to find the enemy shinobi to "accidentally" let it slip that Shion looked like Hinata.

"There you guys are," Naruto said landing in front of three of the shinobi and making sure the fourth could sneak up on him. "I been looking everywhere for you. You guys are so stupid. You'll never be able to figure out which is the real one...Oops. I shouldn't have said that."

Just then the third shinobi, the woman, tackled him and pressed a kunai to his throat.

"What do you mean the real one?" the woman asked.

"I'll never tell!" Naruto said.

"What did you mean?" the woman asked again.

"I'll never tell!" Naruto repeated.

"I bet it's a really genius plan," the one with the pink hair said.

"You think so?" Naruto asked pretending to be stupid and to love the praise. "I thought it up myself."

"I bet you did to," the shinobi said. "I mean, clearly if you could make that first plan you could come up with something as genius as this."

"Oh that was nothing," Naruto said playing along.

"Tell me," the shinobi said. "What'd you do?"

"Just made Shion look like Hinata," Naruto said. "Oops."

"Which one's Hinata?" the shinobi asked smirking.

"The Hyuga, if you must know," Naruto said. "But You'll never catch her. While I was stalling you here, the real me was already taking her to the shrine. He'll be there inside of two days."

"Bull!" the shinobi said.

"Bye," Naruto said waving before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"A clone?" Gitai said in surprise and frustration. "You think any of what they said is true?"

"Can't take any chances," the pink haired shinobi said. "Gitai, Setsuna, go after the main group. We'll handle the brat and his charge."

"Right," the other three said. "Gitai and the man with the blue hair both headed toward the temple to follow Neji and the others while the girl and the man with the pink hair went after Naruto and Hinata.

* * *

"Two in pursuit of us, two in pursuit of the others," Hinata said while Naruto ran full speed giving her a piggyback. "The leader and the girl are both coming after us."

"Can Lee and Sakura handle the other two?" Naruto asked.

"I believe so," Hinata said.

"Good," Naruto said. "Then why don't we meet our friends?"

"Something changed," Hinata said. "The other two are after us too now."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Neji," Hinata said. "He left them an obvious trail to follow to make it look like he was drawing them off of us."

"I see," Naruto said. "Looks like the freaks get are going to catch the freaks then. Think we can handle them?"

"Yes," Hinata said.

"I'll take the girl and Gitai," Naruto said. "Be careful."

Hinata nodded and they both stopped and Naruto let Hinata down. She stood next to him and smiled then took a deep breath and let Matatabi take over.

"I'm finished," Matatabi said. "She's now as fast as you, almost as strong, and her senses are now double an Inuzuka's."

"Thank you," Naruto said and Matatabi let Hinata have control again.

"So, I'm not going to grow a tail, right?" Hinata asked.

"You shouldn't," Naruto said. "She said she finished and the only reason I did was because Kurama didn't finish."

"Either way, they shouldn't be here for another hour or so," Hinata said. "What do you want to do until then?"

"Well," Naruto said. "If I really wanted to tick Hiashi off..."

Hinata understood instantly and blushed but Naruto only grinned.

"Then again, it would probably be smarter if we simply waited and prepared our first attacks," Naruto said. "Or rather, if you did. My attacks are ready."

Hinata looked around and noticed that he had covered the trees around them with seals. The seals were tiny, however, and not easily spotted. Hinata sat on the branch they were on and sighed. Naruto yawned and sat next to her staring at the sky.

"Moryo's not going to wait for us to fight," Naruto said.

"No," Hinata said. "He's not."

"Naruto," Neji said over their communicator. "Shion just told us something you need to hear."

"Go ahead," Naruto said.

"She says she has visions," Neji said. "The visions are always of someone's death and always come true. She said that this one was different, though. She says she saw two different possibilities for the future. During your fight with Moryo, it will be you and Hinata against Moryo if he regains his body. If he does and you both go to fight him, Hinata will die. If only you go, you will die. You have to choose who lives, Naruto. But at the same time you need to know, if you allow Hinata to go, it is the only way Moryo will be stopped."

"I see," Naruto said. "Thank you for telling me. I'll stop him without any casualties."

"Naruto!" Neji shouted before Naruto shut off his communicator and told Hinata to do the same.

"What did he say?" Hinata asked.

"We can't beat Moryo to the sanctuary," Naruto said. "We're not fast enough."

"I see," Hinata said. "Can we beat him?"

"Probably," Naruto said. "Either way, I'm going to destroy him and if I don't, I'll bring the temple down on top of him."

"What if that doesn't work?" Hinata asked.

"It won't," the pink haired shinobi said landing beside them. "See, we're faster than you think."

"And I'm still faster than you," Naruto said teleporting behind him. "Want to fight?"

"You get me handsome," the kunoichi said landing behind him. "Boss get's your pretty little Priestess."

"Oh," Naruto said grinning. "Is that who you were looking for? Sorry. You chose the wrong Hyuga for that."

Hinata suddenly had lion heads made out of chakra over her hands and stepped forward to punch the shinobi. He tried to dodge it but Naruto shoved him into Hinata's fist and when it exploded he went flying. The girl stared in shock then turned to run but Naruto was in front of her with his tails and ears exposed.

"You get me sucker," Naruto said. "Sorry. Not."

He punched her into the air and she splashed back down as water and Naruto smirked as his eyes turned red as Kurama took over.

"You can't hurt me," the girl said. "I'm water."

"You don't know much about Jinchuriki do you?" Hinata asked. "Go ahead Kurama."

Kurama smiled and made a few hand signs then his smile grew.

"Fire Style, Great Dragon Flame Jutsu," Kurama said as Hinata leapt out of the way.

"NO!" the kunoichi screamed before the blast hit her and exploded evaporating her instantly.

"We're too late," Gitai said landing on a branch as Naruto retook control.

"True," Setsuna said. "We'll need a boost."

They both suddenly pulled a purple parasite out of their arms and ripped it in half then squeezed their blood into their mouths. Instantly they both began to mutate. Gitai grew two extra pairs of arms and two extra faces on the sides of his head. Naruto smirked and remembered Kidomaru.

Setsuna's hair grew down to his feet then hardened and spiked up until it was impossible to break and also impossible to touch without it drawing blood. The lines on his face grew until his entire face was blue and his fingers grew into claws. His legs bent the wrong way until they resembled a dog's hind legs and then he grew a snout.

"And I thought Gitai was ugly," Naruto said. "So, you want Spider Man or the Wolf Man?"

"I'll take Spider Man," Hinata said smirking at the fitting nicknames.

Gitai leapt at Naruto and Naruto dropped onto his back avoiding six punches at once then drove both feet into Gitai's chest sending him flying into the air. He leapt after him and crushed his nose with his knee then flipped over him and wrapped his arms around Gitai's waist and his legs around his arms pinning them down.

"So weak," Naruto said just before smashing Gitai into the ground and breaking his neck.

Gitai fell limp and Naruto stood just before Gitai's foot connected with his stomach. Naruto flew backward and crashed into a tree then stood and Gitai laughed.

"And you say I'm weak," Gitai said. "I barely felt a thing there."

"Fine," Naruto said. "Then let's try this again."

Naruto created a Rasengan and charged forward dodging around Gitai's attacks. Then he smashed the Rasengan into Gitai's stomach and it exploded launching Gitai into the air then sending him crashing back down forming a crater.

* * *

While Naruto and Gitai were fighting, Setsuna was slashing at Hinata and Hinata was avoiding him as best she could. When Gitai smashed into the ground and finally died, Setsuna was distracted just long enough for Hinata to begin using Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Setsuna looked back and Hinata grinned.

"Now come get me," Hinata said.

"Sure," Setsuna said. "You see, I can keep up with you."

Hinata was only using about a fourth her top speed and Setsuna began to move toward her avoiding the chakra blades in a blur.

"Not bad," Naruto said as Hinata began to back away and got far enough away that Setsuna was outside of her range again. "Hinata, stop playing around."

Setsuna ran back into range and Hinata moved to full speed and within seconds there was nothing left of Setsuna but powder. Just as Hinata ended her jutsu, Neji and the others arrived with Shion again looking like herself.

"No trouble I trust," Neji said.

"Nope," Naruto said.

"You...killed them all?" Shion asked. "But...they could have killed you."

"I'm not dying any time soon," Naruto said. "And neither is anyone else except Moryo and his army."

"You sound so confident," Shion said. "Wish I could have that kind of confidence."

"Oh come on," Naruto said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"If any of my visions didn't come true," Shion said, "I'd be killed."

"I see," Naruto said. "Like I said. No one except Moryo and his army is going to die. Trust me."

"Loser," Shion said. "Anyway, if we're going to beat Moryo Naruto's the only one who can get me to the shrine fast enough."

"I agree," Neji said setting Shion down. "Hinata, can you keep up with him?"

"Yes," Hinata said.

"Then go with him," Neji said.

Shion climbed onto Naruto's back and the three of them headed off. Neji, Lee, and Sakura followed but within a minute they were too far behind for Neji to see them with his Byakugan. Naruto ran as fast as he could and Hinata kept pace with him perfectly. Finally, they reached a cliff beside the temple and Naruto sighed in relief. There were boulders strewn everywhere but there was no sign of the Ghost Army or Moryo. There was also a deep valley on the right side with a river at the bottom.

"When we get there," Naruto said. "You guard the door and don't let anyone in. But don't get yourself killed either, okay?"

"Right," Hinata said.

Naruto nodded then turned and they all began jumping from one ledge on the cliff to the next on the way to the temple. Suddenly the boulders began to crumble and stone soldiers began rising from the rubble.

"Terracotta Soldiers!" Shion said.

"I assume they're part of the ghost army?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Shion said.

Naruto leapt into the air as a stone sword smashed down where he had been and Hinata leapt in the other direction away from a stone axe. A stone axe came sailing at Naruto and he spun to avoid it but the handle hit him in the head and he lost his grip momentarily on Shion. She fell into the valley and Naruto dove after her. He was worried about Hinata but knew she could handle herself until he got back.

Just before Shion hit the water, Naruto caught her and flipped over so that he hit first. Then he carried her out of the water and set her against a tree. He removed his headband and shook the water out then put his headband back on and turned to Shion.

"Now, tell me about this vision," Naruto said. "And be quick about it."

"You are fighting Moryo and you see something glowing and get distracted just long enough for Moryo to impale you through the heart," Shion said. "In the other possibility, you and Hinata are fighting him and you see the eye but Hinata saves you and you continue to fight for a time before Moryo pins you down and tries to stab you but she blocks the attack with her body."

"I see," Naruto said. "Then I'll just have to end it in one hit."

"How?" Shion asked.

"You'll see," Naruto said.

Then he picked her back up Piggyback style and ran up the side of the valley to the top where Hinata was jumping around to avoid the soldiers attacks. Naruto created two clones and formed two Rasengan then blasted about fifty Terracotta Soldiers with one.

"Honey, I'm home!" Naruto shouted before blasting fifty more with the other Rasengan.

One of the Narutos leapt over the remaining soldiers to the entrance to the temple and set Shion down.

"Now get going," Naruto said. "We'll handle-"

A blade sprouted from his chest before he could finish and Shion covered her mouth but the Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. More Narutos appeared and smashed a lot more Rasengans into the soldiers and the real Naruto shouted for Shion to get going then went to save Hinata who was trapped in a corner. Shion sighed in relief then turned and ran into the temple.

Naruto and Hinata got behind the line of shadow clones that were struggling to push the soldiers over the edge of the cliff and blasting them whenever they managed to make a Rasengan. The problem was that the rest of the army was arriving in an endless sea of stone soldiers.

"There's no end to these guys," Naruto said rushing forward to join the clones only to have a soldier punch him and send him flying back to Hinata. "Damn."

Naruto and Hinata both suddenly felt Moryo's strength appear behind them but could also tell that he wasn't in his body yet which only meant that Shion was beginning the sealing jutsu.

"This may take a while," Naruto said.

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi shouted blasting a row of soldiers.

"Super Beast Scroll!" Sai said dropping ink lions with numerous paper bombs into the soldiers where they exploded blowing the soldiers apart.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto said. "Sai!"

Kakashi and Sai both landed in front of Naruto and Hinata just as several other shinobi from both the Leaf and Sand Villages landed around the soldiers and blasted them.

"Giant Sand Burial!" Gaara said landing and slamming both hands into the ground.

A shock wave went out turning the stone into super-compressed sand and the soldiers it caught were instantly crushed.

"I'm so glad you're here Gaara," Naruto said. "Hinata, stay here. I'm going to deal with Moryo."

Naruto and Hinata both could feel that Moryo had regained his body as could Gaara and B who had just landed beside Gaara and smashed a soldier who had been about to kill Gaara.

"Go Naruto!" B said. "We will handle any foe."

"What did I say about rapping?" Naruto asked smiling before turning and running into the temple.

When he got there, he stopped for a moment to take it in. Fifty percent of the floor was magma with the rest being winding pathways forming a maze. The room was enormous and in the center Shion sat on her knees crying. There was a seal carved around her and there were four stone spheres around her as well as a coffin beside her.

"Shion!" Naruto shouted. "What happened?"

Before she could answer, huge purple dragons with red eyes and blue insides shot out of the ground around her before the ground under her gave way. As she fell, her bell began to glow.

"Don't worry," Moryo said. "So long as you possess that light, I cannot absorb you. But you might not like what you see if I don't. For example, the end of this world...and your friend."

* * *

Naruto jumped over a dragon head and slashed it with his claws making it roar in pain. He tried to get to Shion but a dragon head smashed him away with it's neck. He smashed into the wall and fell to the ground then stood creating clones.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Naruto said.

"Why do you fight me?" Moryo asked. "Your companion is my kind and you yourself are half my kind. You should join me."

"I would rather gargle broken glass," Naruto said drawing a kunai and throwing it through a dragon's eye.

He leapt into the air and the clones did the same and the dragon heads all shot into the Narutos and began eating some, smashing others and some dragons elongated into blades to stab or slash some. One dragon shot at Naruto and he flipped over it and slashed it. He tried to flip over again just as an eye shaped piece of land caught his eye because it was glowing. A dragon elongated into a spike and shot at him but Hinata suddenly stepped into the room.

"Eight Trigrams Air Palm!" Hinata said blasting Naruto just hard enough for him to shoot out of the way.

He landed on his feet and ran to Hinata as the last of his clones were destroyed.

"Thanks," Naruto said. "A little easier would have been nice, though."

* * *

While this was happening, Shion was seeing the past. Part of her had actually traveled back in time to the point where Naruto had saved her from falling. Naruto was waiting for her to climb onto his back so that he could take her back to the top of the cliff.

"Are you coming or not?" Naruto asked.

"You can't change your fate," Shion said.

"You've said that," Naruto said. "Do we really need to have this discussion again?"

Shion smiled and pulled the bell pin out of her jacket. Then she climbed onto Naruto's back sticking it in the back of his jacket silently.

"Naruto?" Shion asked.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked.

"Please be careful," Shion said. "You must live."

"I'm always careful," Naruto said. "When it serves me."

* * *

Moryo smashed Hinata aside when she tried to hit him with Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists. She landed hard and a dragon head instantly shot at her as a spike. Naruto Jumped and kicked the spike away only to have four dragon heads turn into forked spikes and pin him to the ground. A fifth dragon head formed a spike and shot at him but Hinata stepped in the way. Naruto, out of pure desperation, ripped his hands and feet out from under the appendages, ruining his hands and feet then somehow managed to shove Hinata out of the way. Before the spike could his him, a sphere of light appeared around him then took the form of her bell. The force still sent him crashing into the wall but he stood and understood what had happened.

"Shion's bell," Naruto said feeling his back for it.

The head that had hit the shield screamed in pain then exploded.

* * *

Shion curled in a ball as Moryo spoke to her.

"I've seen that power once before," Moryo said. "Is this what you want, though? Giving up your amulet, to a man?"

Moryo laughed for a moment before continuing.

"Very well," Moryo said. "If that is your wish, I shall grant it. Now bear witness as our bodies become one, and all those who tried to protect you perish as the very world of humans, rots away."

* * *

On the surface, Naruto and Hinata were both jumping around avoiding spikes and dragons heads while trying to get to Shion. Finally they found themselves next to each other again and Naruto made the mistake of trying to stay on his feet for more than a second and collapsed screaming in pain. Hinata allowed Matatabi take over on instinct and Matatabi used a jutsu that immediately restored Naruto's hands and feet to the way they were before he was pinned. Then Matatabi allowed Hinata to retake control.

Naruto stood just as a spike exploded from her chest. Naruto froze in shock as the spike lifted her into the air. After a moment, Kurama took control from Naruto who had completely shut down and leapt into the air. The heads that had been destroyed had all regenerated so Kurama knew what he had planned wouldn't matter.

"Wind Style, Wind Blade Jutsu!" Kurama said swinging his arm and sending the attack.

It removed three heads and the spike holding Hinata which dissolved. He caught her and carried her back to the edge of the room and healed her as best he could with Medical Ninjutsu. He wasn't very skilled with it but he knew how it worked. Once Hinata was healed enough to survive, Kurama gave Naruto control again and Naruto began to try to get to Shion again.

* * *

Shion suddenly saw the image of her mother and heard her mother apologize for failing to protect her. When the vision faded, Shion understood what she had to do.

"Release!" Shion said activating her power as the Priestess.

She could feel the previous Priestesses and could hear the voices of those who had died before their time.

"Now I see," Moryo said. "Your true power is held in that bell of yours!"

"So," Shion said. "This is the end. Naruto, can you hear me? From this day on, it's up to all of you, to protect this world. Finally, I know my destiny."

Naruto's promise to protect her played through her mind.

"You're a terrible liar Naruto," Shion said as tears streamed down her face.

She held her hands out to her side sending out a blast of energy that began to tear Moryo apart.

"You and I will disappear together," Shion said.

Then she heard her bell jingle and the attack stopped. The light that had been radiating from her vanished and she returned to her normal state.

"Shion!" Naruto shouted forcing his way toward her. "Snap out of it!"

Suddenly she was falling. But not down, up. Naruto was being held by a line of clones who were dragging her back up to the surface. As they pulled her out, Naruto pulled her up to himself.

"Open your eyes and breathe!" Naruto said.

Shion opened her eyes and suddenly realized she had been holding her breath and her conversation with Moryo had been telepathic. She gasped for breath as the Naruto pulled her away from Moryo.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. "Are you ready to fight now? What do you want?"

"I want..." Shion began trying to catch up with what was happening.

"I can't hear you!" Naruto said.

"TO LIVE!" Shion shouted in his ear.

"Ouch," Naruto said smirking. "Alright then!"

As this was happening, the other shinobi were destroying the last of Moryo's army. Naruto and Shion held their hands in the position to create a Rasengan with the bell hovering between them.

"Now try this you son of a bitch!" Naruto said while one of his clones carried Hinata away from the soon to be blast radius and the other clones disappeared. "If you don't like the hand that fate's dealt you, fight for a better one."

The Rasengan was violet and it expanded until it was bigger than they were.

"Fight for a better future," Moryo said condensing all of his Dragon heads into one enormous one. "Excellent idea."

The dragon head opened it's mouth and hundreds of spikes shot out and up at Naruto and Shion just as they began to descend Rasengan first.

"We're going to die!" Shion said.

"Have faith in me!" Naruto said.

"I...okay!" Shion said.

"Then take this!" Naruto said. "RASENGAN!"

The Rasengan destroyed the spikes when they touched it then began destroying its way down the dragon head and hit the ground at it's base. It began to explode instantly and the explosion blew the reforming dragon head into oblivion and Naruto teleported himself and Shion to Hinata's side before the explosion could claim them too. The explosion was enormous and blinding and when it was done, the room was actually largely intact. Then it began to collapse until the top of the mountain exploded forming a new volcano.

* * *

The sun began to rise as the shinobi stood watching Naruto's latest screw up and victory combination. Luckily there was a river at the base of the mountain that cooled the lava when it reached it.

"Well it could have played out a lot worse than this, I guess," Kakashi said after they had watched the scene for a while.

"They ended up creating a new volcano, huh?" Lee said.

"That knuckle head," Shikamaru said.

"That's what we get for leaving it to him," Temari said.

"I'm right here," Naruto said sitting beside Hinata while Sakura healed her wound the rest of the way.

"Remind me to teach your friend better Medical Ninjutsu," Sakura said. "He kind of sucks at it."

Naruto laughed and shook his head.

"He told me to tell you that he can still heal wounds anywhere on the body and you can't," Naruto said.

Sakura smiled and shrugged finishing and allowing Hinata to sit up as well as giving her a cloak to cover the huge hole in her clothes that took up most of her chest. Hinata blushed and put it on then stood beside Naruto with Shion on his other side.

"Guess you've got to find a new job, huh," Naruto said.

"No," Shion said. "He'll probably be back. Besides, I may have to keep an eye on a certain dangerous genin. But don't worry. I won't let Fate decide my life anymore. I'm a Priestess and need to keep the world safe from Moryo. And of course I need to make sure my power is passed on to the next Priestess. How 'bout it Naruto? You want to help me with that?"

Everyone there stared in shock and Guy and Kakashi both nearly passed out. Hinata didn't react however and Naruto simply raised an eyebrow.

"That's a little blunt," Naruto said grinning and blushing. "And sorry but I'm spoken for."

"So?" Shion asked. "Did I say she couldn't come too?"

This time everyone passed out and all of the males had happy looks on their faces. Shikamaru didn't pass out, though and neither did Naruto or Hinata. Shikamaru stared at Shion then looked at Naruto and Hinata who were both so red that a blind man would have to look away. This caused Shikamaru to burst out laughing making them turn an even brighter red.

"Um...no...sorry," Naruto said trying to form a complete sentence.

"Aaww," Shion said in mock disappointment. "Oh well. Guess I'll have to find someone else then. Can I at least have a kiss?"

"Sure," Naruto said grinning and shaking Sai awake to whisper something to him.

Sai smirked and nodded then painted something and made it real then handed it to Naruto. Naruto walked back over to Shion and told her to close her eyes. She did and he held up a puppy which licked her entire face in one try and she stumbled back trying not to scream until she saw what it was.

"So that's what he made," Shion said. "He's cute."

"He's yours," Naruto said setting him down. "He'll stay until something hits him then he'll turn into a puddle of ink and stain your floor."

"Thanks," Shion said as tho others began to wake up.

"Wait," Sakura said. "You were just kidding right?"

"Maybe," Shion said mischievously. "Bye everyone."

She then turned and began walking back to her home.

"I could teleport you if you want," Naruto said.

"Nah," Shion said. "I feel like going for a stroll."

Naruto shrugged then everyone gathered around him so he could teleport them all to the Leaf Village. From there they could head back to their villages themselves.

"See ya," Naruto said.

Shion waved and he teleported them all to the Hidden Leaf Village except Kakashi who had only just woken up.

"Have a nice run," Shion said.

Kakashi sighed and began heading home.

THE END

* * *

Read and review


	23. Chapter 23

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Kage Trouble

Naruto yawned and leaned back against the tree behind him and looked down at Hinata who was asleep on his chest. They had arrived at the village about a week ago and Gaara and the Sand Village shinobi had all headed home. Hinata had had Tsunade tell the village about Hinata being a Jinchuriki and inside of an hour, Hiashi had disowned her and began trying to convince people to get Naruto and Hinata exiled. Tsunade had refused and refused to listen to requests involving either of them being driven from the village. After a couple days, most of the supporters had given up but Hiashi continued to pester Tsunade about it.

Naruto and Hinata had spent most of their free time together and hadn't gotten any missions. Naruto had spent a while training Hinata to use her senses better and then they had simply relaxed together. It was around noon now and Hinata was peacefully asleep on Naruto's chest. He didn't mind but he really had to use the bathroom.

"Naruto," Kakashi said quietly appearing beside them. "We have a mission. Gaara's been captured by the Akatsuki."

Naruto nodded and sighed then created a shadow clone and gently gave him Hinata. Then he followed Kakashi but stopped at his apartment to relieve himself on the way. Then they went to Tsunade's office.

"Ah, Naruto," Tsunade said. "I assume Kakashi told you?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "What do we know?"

"Gaara was captured and Kankuro was injured and poisoned trying to save him," Tsunade said. "Sakura will save him, you are being sent to save the Kazekage."

"Right," Naruto said.

"One more thing," Tsunade said. "Team Kakashi is being sent and Team Guy will meet up with you. You understand don't you?"

"While I'm away, she may be a target," Naruto said. "Tobi may even come after her himself."

"That's right," Tsunade said. "We can't protect her if he does so you need to finish your mission as soon as possible."

"Is there any way she could come with us?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry but no," Tsunade said.

"I see," Naruto said. "Then do me a favor and use this to keep her hidden until I get back."

He tossed her a scroll and she opened it to see a seal. She wasn't familiar with the seal but understood what it would generally do.

"I will," Tsunade said. "Good luck."

Naruto nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Tsunade said. "In light of your recent successes, I've decided to make you a chunin. Congratulations. You still will have to take the jounin exam to become one."

"I understand," Naruto said.

He turned and left and Kakashi went with him. They met up with Sakura and Temari and then left for the Hidden Sand Village. Naruto kept his speed down enough that the others could all keep up but wanted to save Gaara as soon as possible as well as get back before something bad happened to Hinata.

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "When we reach the Leaf Village Sakura and Temari will start trying to make an antidote for Kankuro and you and I will head out after the Akatsuki."

"Understood," Naruto said.

After about a day and a half of constant travel they reached the edge of the desert and Kakashi finally told Naruto to stop for a rest.

"Okay," Naruto said. "Fine."

He sat on a branch high above the others as Kakashi started a fire. He leaned against the tree and sniffed to check for enemies. The air behind him in the forest was fairly cool and the air ahead of him in the desert was near unbearably hot. The trees were about five feet thick and the branches were scarcely more than three inches thick. They were a lot smaller on the edge of the desert than Naruto was used to but he was more amused by the instant temperature change than by the small trees.

He sniffed again and closed his eyes to think. Hinata seemed to be taking people's dirty looks toward her very well and he knew that she could handle it if she could find one thing to hold onto. Naruto knew that that thing would be him as surely as he would kill anyone that tried to hurt her."

"Naruto!" Kakashi called. "Lunch's ready. Come eat."

"Not hungry," Naruto said.

"You need to keep your strength up," Kakashi said. "I made you ramen."

"I said I'm not hungry!" Naruto snapped. "I'm going on ahead. The sooner I rescue Gaara the sooner I can ensure that my sense of dread is a load of crap."

"Wait!" Kakashi said. "What sense of dread."

"I don't know," Naruto said. "I just know something bad's going to happen."

Naruto then jumped down into the desert and began running. Kakashi sighed and began eating. The others did too and hurried then gathered their things and followed Naruto. A sandstorm hit and they were forced to take shelter in a cave.

"Naruto's still out there," Sakura said.

"He'll be here soon," Temari said.

"No he won't," Kakashi said. "Nothing's going to stop him from finishing the mission."

* * *

Naruto ran through the sand with his eyes closed and relying on his sense of hearing, however impaired. After a few minutes, he left the cloud of sand and splashed some water on himself to clean the sand off. He looked around and saw the Sand Village a couple of meters off to one side but Kurama directed his attention to a trail of chakra imbued sand leading away.

"Found you," Naruto said following the trail.

Before he got far, Sakura appeared in front of him. She didn't look happy and Naruto knew she might actually hit him.

"We need to make sure Kankuro's okay first," Sakura said.

"Go right ahead," Naruto said. "Gaara's running out of time fast. I'm going to save him then I'm going back to the Leaf Village to keep Tobi from taking Hinata back."

"Naruto," Sakura said. "Tobi's not going to take Hinata."

"Get out of my way Sakura," Naruto said. "I'm not debating this with you."

"I'm not letting you run off to fight the Akatsuki alone," Sakura said.

"Get out of my way now!" Naruto said.

"No," Sakura said.

Naruto placed a seal behind her as far as he could then teleported to it and began running at his top speed. Sakura followed for a couple of minutes then gave up and went back to the Hidden Sand Village. Naruto ran through the desert following the trail of Gaara's sand. After a couple hours, he reached the edge of the desert where the sand turned into grass lands. The temperature was still extremely high and there were a few desert shrubs scattered here and there but after a while the temperature fell back to a reasonable range and the shrubs turned to scattered trees. Naruto continued to run and finally he reached a cliff overlooking a river with a sealed boulder blocking the entrance to the Akatsuki's hideout.

_"Can we break the rock?"_ Naruto asked.

_"Not until we remove that seal,"_ Kurama said. _"Give me control and we'll be in within ten minutes."_

Naruto gave Kurama control and Kurama sent one clone to each seal tag he could pinpoint with his senses. Once they were all in position, they pulled the tags up, and Kurama smashed the boulder.

"Too easy," Kurama said giving Naruto control again.

"We have an uninvited guest," a glowing image of an Akatsuki member said, voice distorted. "Deal with him."

Roshi dropped to the floor of the cave and smiled at Naruto. His hair had grown longer over the years and he seemed to be more confident.

"I'm glad you're here," Naruto said. "I was looking for someone to kill."

Roshi smiled and darted forward his arms swelling and growing hairier destroying his sleeves as they did. He threw a punch at Naruto which connected with his face but the loud crack that sounded wasn't from Naruto's face, it was from Roshi's wrist.

"B taught you well," Roshi said.

"My turn," Naruto said letting his tails and ears appear.

"I see," the silhouette that had spoken before said. "So he's a hanyou. Interesting."

Naruto threw a punch at Roshi who dodged it only to have Naruto flip over and spin smashing his foot into the side of his face. Roshi flew across the room into the wall just as the chakra around Gaara disappeared and Gaara fell to the floor.

_"We're too late,"_ Kurama said.

Naruto!" Sakura said as she and the rest of Team Kakashi landed outside the door and Team Guy landed beside them. "Where were...oh no."

"So he's dead," an elderly kunoichi said. "Then even Naruto was too late."

"How's Kankuro?" Naruto asked.

"He'll live," Sakura said. "No thanks to you."

"So you stopped my poison," a hunched over Akatsuki member said. "Interesting. I call them. Deidara, you can have the hanyou. Just don't get yourself killed too soon."

"None of you get the hanyou," a familiar Akatsuki member said running in through the door and jumping onto the empty finger. "I may be new but I would like to personally welcome back an old member of ours. Isn't that right...Hinata?"

Naruto instantly wheeled around and leapt backward narrowly avoiding an attack from Hinata. Naruto could instantly tell that she was being controlled and cursed to himself.

"Kakashi," Naruto said. "Kill Tobi! I'll free Hinata."

"How?" Kakashi asked. "Only Hanare was able to before."

"You're controlling a Hyuga?" one of the silhouettes asked.

"A Hyuga Jinchuriki," Tobi said. "The new Jinchuriki of the Two-tailed Beast."

"I see," said the blonde shinobi, Deidara. "Sasori, please kill the girls for me."

"Sure," Sasori said.

"Sasori?" the elderly woman said. "I see."

"Hello, Lady Chiyo," Sasori said.

_"Kurama," _Naruto said. _"Advice, now."_

_ "Contract Seal,"_ Kurama said. _"Very effective and easy if you can get close to the person."_

Kurama flashed the seal through Naruto's head and Naruto smirked.

"She may not be your summon," Naruto said. "But I think you'll remember this jutsu."

Naruto could sense a seal on Tobi so he threw a kunai at him to test him. Before the kunai had even reached him, Tobi was behind Naruto. Naruto teleported to the seal coming out behind him and placed the contract seal on him.

"What?" Tobi said. "But that's not-"

"Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Hinata said beginning to hit Tobi.

Naruto leapt out of the way and watched in joy as Hinata hit Tobi well over sixty four times before finally creating a Lion head out of her chakra and smashing it into his face. His mask exploded but he teleported away before anyone could see his face.

"Impressive Hinata," Neji said. "Although, that's not the Sixty Four Palms."

"It was at first," Hinata said. "Now then, who's next?"

"I don't like that brat," Deidara said.

"Then leave him to me," the silhouette of Itachi said.

"Nope," Deidara said. "I'm going to kill him."

"With what?" Naruto asked.

"C3," Deidara said.

"That's what Gaara shielded us from," Chiyo said. "Dangerous jutsu. Be careful."

"It takes time to prepare," Naruto said. "All jutsus do. I'll kill him before he can finish it."

"Range Seal!" Tobi shouted appearing behind Naruto with a new mask on and placing a seal on Naruto's back before teleporting to the empty finger again.

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

"Now you can't place seals from a distance, and all existing seals of yours are now gone," Tobi said. "Now let's try this again."

"Hinata," Naruto said holding his hand out.

She placed hers in his and he placed a seal on her palm then he shoved her backward and jumped back himself as Tobi appeared between them smashing an enormous morning star into the ground.

"Impressive," Naruto said. "Let's try this."

Naruto began jumping around the room at random placing seals anywhere he landed then he landed next to Hinata and realized that he still sensed a seal on Tobi.

"That aught to do it," Naruto said.

"Figures," Tobi said. "How do you plan on marking me?"

"Already did," Naruto said.

Tobi looked at his hands then laughed.

"You're full of it," Tobi said.

"Try me," Naruto said. "Stand over there where I didn't mark and solidify yourself for one second."

Tobi looked to his left where there was a ten foot wide circle that was free of seal formulas. He walked over to it and smirked. The moment he arrived, Naruto was directly behind him and his forearm was sticking out of Tobi's chest with blood dripping from the claws.

"You...how..." Tobi struggled to breathe, let alone talk.

"I didn't place it," Naruto said then ripped his arm free and kicked Tobi away. "Who's next?"

"Sasori," Deidara said. "Kill the bitches, but let the Jinchuriki be sealed. I'll handle the other Jinchuriki and Kakashi."

"Die freak!" Roshi said suddenly appearing over Tobi with a kunai.

Naruto smirked as Roshi drove the kunai downward until Tobi suddenly had a sword with the blade extending from Roshi's back. He would live just long enough for his tailed beast to be sealed, then he would die.

"So the contract seal freed Roshi as well," Deidara said. "Itachi, how close are you to Fu?"

"Within a mile," Itachi said.

"Don't bother letting her be controlled," Deidara said.

Tobi teleported away with Roshi and Itachi's silhouette disappeared along with what Naruto assumed was Itachi's partner, a tall thin man with a sword.

"Deidara, Sasori, deal with them," the first silhouette said. "The rest of you, find your targets."

"Kakashi," Naruto said. "Kurama says that Fu in exactly twelve miles south of here. You and Team Guy need to go save her. We can handle them."

"But-" Kakashi said.

"Go!" Naruto said.

"Okay," Kakashi said as they all left.

"Sakura, Lady Chiyo," Naruto said. "Can you handle Sasori?"

"Yes," Lady Chiyo said.

"Kill him then," Naruto said. "Hinata, we've got Deidara."

"Right," Hinata said.

"I can't fight two!" Deidara complained.

"You wanted the brat," Sasori said. "And for me to kill the girls. Deal with it."

"I'm getting out of here!" Deidara said creating a large clay bird and flying out the door as the other silhouettes all faded.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto said chasing him.

Hinata followed Naruto and Deidara led them to a section in the river where there were stone columns extending horizontally across the river making it hard for Deidara to fly but equally hard for Hinata and Naruto to keep up jumping from one to the other.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted. "Remember what I showed you?"

She smiled and nodded and they jumped into the air and began running on air after Deidara and gaining fast.

"That's cheating!" Deidara said. "Fine, take this!"

He threw several claw insects at them and the insects expanded into giant clay hornets and flew at Naruto and Hinata. Naruto whistled and several hundred eagles and hawks flew out of the trees and destroyed the hornets leaving them useless.

"What?" Deidara asked.

"Thank you," Naruto said.

"No prob boss," an eagle said before the birds all flew after Deidara.

They didn't actually speak, of course, but Naruto had recently remembered that he could talk to animals.

"You can talk to animals?" Hinata asked.

"Yep," Naruto said. "Helpful huh?"

Deidara avoided the birds and finally Naruto told them to go home which they did. Deidara finally flew into the air out of the only cover he had, which was the stone columns, then began raining clay bombs on Naruto and Hinata. They easily smashed the bombs away before they could explode but Deidara simply increased his output.

"Super Beast Scroll!" Sai shouted dropping an ink lion with an explosive tag on Deidara.

Deidara leapt off his bird just in time to avoid the blast and created another bird.

"You're not the only artist," Sai said. "Need any help Naruto?"

"You seem to be very emotional today," Naruto said.

"I want to see you fulfill your dream," Sai said. "And, I want to see if having friends really makes you stronger."

"I see," Naruto said. "Are you surprised I can walk on air?"

"Not really," Sai said. "Ino told me about it."

"Oh," Naruto said sniffing. "And you called us cheaters."

"What?" Deidara asked.

Naruto threw a kunai and when it hit Deidara, he fell away as clay. Naruto then spun and kicked the Real Deidara in the face. He had been silently trying to sneak up on Naruto to kill him. He had ditched his bird so he had used a huge clay worm to lift him up behind Naruto.

"You can't sneak up on me," Naruto said. "I can smell you."

"Great," Deidara said. "Can you also smell the clay on your back?"

Naruto sniffed then reached around to his back and pulled a small clay spider off of his back. Then he threw it at Deidara who caught it.

"What give?" Deidara asked. "It should have exploded."

"Oh sorry about that," Naruto said holding up a satchel full of white clay. "I switched your clay with some if found by the river."

Deidara stared at the back for a moment then began to laugh. Naruto knew that the bag would still explode but waited for Deidara to say it.

"You idiot," Deidara said. "Take this!"

He made the seal of confrontation at the same time as Naruto threw the bag at him. It began to glow as it neared Deidara and Naruto, Sai, and Hinata ll put distance between themselves and the bag. Then it exploded and Deidara's lower half splashed down into the river. Of course, Naruto and Hinata had both been able to track the real Deidara when he replaced himself with a clay clone at the last second. His arm had been blown off along with his leg and he was already half dead from blood loss so they went back to help Sakura and Chiyo only to find that they had already finished fighting Sasori. There were destroyed puppets everywhere two of which looked exactly the same. Naruto had a feeling it was Sasori's true form.

"Are you two okay?" Naruto asked.

"Fine," Sakura said.

"Lady Chiyo was poisoned," Hinata said.

"Sakura," Naruto said.

"I'm fine child," Lady Chiyo said. "Thank you for your concern though."

"Okay," Naruto said. "Let's get Gaara back to the Sand Village."

"Not yet," Chiyo said. "Outside will be fine for now."

Naruto picked up Gaara's body and they headed outside and to a large clearing. Naruto set Gaara's body down and Chiyo knelt next to him. She rested her hands on his chest and a ball of blue chakra appeared around her hands. Naruto looked to Sakura and Hinata both of whom looked surprised and worried.

"What's she doing?" Naruto asked.

"She's bringing him back," Sakura said.

"Not right now I'm not," Chiyo said. "I'm out of chakra."

The ball of chakra began to shrink and fade until it was nearly gone.

"You can use mine," Naruto said.

"That's very kind of you," Chiyo said. "Place your hands on top of mine."

Naruto knelt on the other side of Gaara and placed his hands over hers and felt his chakra begin to drain away. The ball instantly grew until it was larger and brighter than it had been when she started. After a few more minutes, Chiyo finally collapsed and Sakura caught her. Gaara stirred but didn't wake.

"Gaara," Naruto said. "Gaara!"

"Who...is that?" Gaara groaned. "Who's...who's calling me? Who is it?"

He saw a vision of himself as a child crying and alone. Then, someone appeared and rested a hand on the child's shoulder and Gaara could feel the hand on his own. He looked left and saw a boy beside him with spiky blonde hair, a Leaf Village headband, blue eyes, and whisker marks.

"Naruto," Gaara said recognizing the boy.

He was suddenly aware that he was sitting in a field with others around him and looked around. An enormous portion of the shinobi from his village was gathered around him along with Team Kakashi from the Leaf Village but Kakashi himself was absent. Temari was kneeling beside him. He saw Matsuri standing in the front row of shinobi looking extremely worried and relieved at the same time. Behind her were Sari and Baki. Gaara recognized several others as well.

"What is this?" Gaara asked.

"They all came running to help you," Naruto said smiling. "You've had everyone worried half to death."

Matsuri seemed to be unable to wait with the others any longer and ran forward.

"Lord Gaara!" Matsuri said running. "Are you alright?"

Gaara couldn't find anything to say so he simply nodded. Matsuri's face lit up and she leapt into the air cheering at the same time as everyone else began cheering as well. A couple even began to cry out of joy. Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara didn't notice the others cheering because Matsuri's joy and relief outshone the others combined. Naruto and Hinata knew why.

After a while Gaara looked to Naruto for an explanation but Naruto simply said, "You sure had us worried there."

"No kidding," Kankuro said walking over. "You caused us a whole ton of grief there little brother."

"Will you two quit putting on airs already?" Temari asked. "Gaara's the Kazekage, remember? Show a little respect you nitwits."

Naruto glared at her for a moment before she shoved him out of the way to get to Gaara.

"Gaara!" Temari said. "Talk to me, how do you feel?"

Gaara started to stand shaking and obviously in pain but kept trying.

"Easy!" Temari said. "You shouldn't get up to quickly. Your body hasn't fully recovered from the rigor mortis yet."

Gaara relaxed and leaned on his hand taking Temari's advice.

"Oh thanks be to the heavens," Ittetsu said wiping tears from his eyes. "I thought we'd lost him. Without the lord Kazekage, I-"

He was cut off when Matsuri's fist connected with his head.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Matsuri said. "There's no way we'd ever loos Lord Gaara. Lord Gaara is the hottest thing ever! He's a quiet yet cool strong and elite warrior!"

"Yeah!" Sari said. "Lord Gaara is totally gorgeous, isn't he? After all he is Kazekage."

"If anything should ever happen again I'll protect him with all my heart," Matsuri said taking a couple steps forward but still staying out of Gaara's hearing range.

"No I will!" Sari said shoving Matsuri aside.

"Get in line!" Matsuri said shoving her back. "He's mine!"

Then both sprinted forward calling out to him. When they reached him, Sari shoved Naruto out of the way.

"I know I haven't announced my new rank yet but give me a break," Naruto said sitting up.

"Ah don't sweat it," Kankuro said walking over. "Women always go weak in the knees for that cool elite type o' guy. Although, Gaara's probably more oblivious than you when it comes to their feelings."

"Technically feelings are still new to him," Naruto said. "Can you blame him?"

"True," Kankuro said said looking back at Matsuri and Sari to see Temari blocking their path.

"Naruto," Kankuro said. "Thank you."

"Don't look at me," Naruto said. "Lady Chiyo saved him."

"Although," Naruto said. "If my friend's right about that jutsu, she's gone."

"He is," Kankuro said. "It's a jutsu that trade's one life to give life to something else."

"I see," Naruto said.

After another while, Gaara stood and sighed.

"Thank you Naruto," Gaara said. "And thank all of you too. Now, I'm tired. I want to head home. You are all welcome to stay there before you go back to the Hidden Leaf. Naruto, I want to talk to you wen we get there so you have no choice in the matter."

"Sure," Naruto said. "I'll be waiting."

"Naruto," Hinata said grabbing his arm. "Don't just run off every chance you get, show off. You can travel back with the rest of us."

"Fine," Naruto said smirking.

The others laughed then they began heading back to the Sand village. Matsuri and Sari placed themselves next to Gaara and Temari placed herself between them and Gaara while Kankuro walked on his other side.

"How long until we get back?" Naruto asked.

"At this pace probably...ten hours," Sakura said.

"Yikes," Naruto said. "Sakura, how fast can you move?"

"Fairly," Sakura said. "Why?"

"Gaara," Naruto said. "I know you just woke up but I think we should get back before the Akatsuki start looking for payback."

"Good idea," Gaara said. "Since you're fastest here, you might as well carry me."

"Yes sir," Naruto said kneeling with his back to Gaara.

Gaara sighed and climbed onto Naruto's back and Naruto began running. The other shinobi were able to easily keep pace with him since he was only picking their speed up a bit. After about five hours of traveling, they finally reached the Sand Village. Naruto let Gaara down then followed him to his office.

"So, what was so important that you had to talk to me about it in private?" Naruto asked.

"Your senses are better than anyone on Earth right?" Gaara asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "Why do you ask?"

"I know that Matsuri and Sari both have a crush on me but I don't know how I feel about them," Gaara said. "I get confused when I see them. That's why Temari keeps them away from me."

"I see," Naruto said. "And I assume you want me to see how you feel about them."

"If you can," Gaara said. "Truthfully I'm not sure that's it's anything more than a rumor that you can smell emotions and memories."

"I can," Naruto said. "Although I haven't allowed my senses to be that good for a while. Well, let's see those emotions."

Naruto sniffed and his head instantly filled with a whirlwind of confused thoughts and feelings and snatches of memories all relating to Matsuri and Sari.

"Wow," Naruto said leaning back against the wall and rubbing his eyes. "That's quite a problem."

He was trying to slow it down enough to make heads or tails of any of it but wasn't having much luck.

"I'm starting to get dizzy," Naruto said. "When you said you got confused I didn't expect you to be understating it. Give me a minute."

Naruto had Kurama separate the thoughts into two sections, one for Matsuri and one for Sari. Once he had, the thoughts and emotions for Sari instantly calmed and organized themselves.

"Sari is just a friend," Naruto said. "The confusion is just because she's always around Matsuri."

"Why would that confuse me?" Gaara asked.

"One moment," Naruto said.

He went back into his mind to try to sort out Gaara's feelings for Matsuri, but before he did, he noticed that Gaara seemed slightly less confused. When he got back to his mind, he was instantly assaulted by a feeling of nausea from the swirling thoughts. Technically he was constantly seeing into Gaara's mind but it still felt like it was in his own mind without him feeling the emotions as his own.

He and Kurama both began to try to sort out Gaara's thoughts, and after about five minutes, they finally managed to start sorting it out. The first thing they got was Gaara meeting her. He and his siblings were teaching new recruits to fight with an assortment of weapons. Everyone else had either gone with Kankuro or Temari but Matsuri chose to have Gaara teach her. She had had trouble choosing a weapon so he had given her her rope javelin.

After that memory came the memory of her being kidnapped to hurt him and him rescuing her with the help of Naruto and a couple others. Then came several other memories of her. Each time Naruto or Kurama got a memory sorted out, some of the memories went with it making it easier to understand what was left. Finally, all that was left were Gaara's current feelings toward Matsuri and Naruto smirked when he instantly recognized them.

"I'm done," Naruto said. "It was a mess but it's done now."

"And?" Gaara prompted. "What did you find out?"

"See for yourself," Naruto said.

He opened the door to reveal Matsuri. She was holding a bouquet of flowers with Gaara's name written on the tag and looked shocked. She and Gaara stared at each other for a moment as Matsuri's face turned bright red from being caught with the flowers.

"I...I was just...um..." Matsuri tried to think of something to say.

"Are those for me?" Gaara asked.

"Oh...um...y-yes," Matsuri said turning scarlet but holding the flowers out.

Gaara accepted the flowers and read the tag.

"Dear Lord Gaara, I'm so happy you're alright. Please accept these flowers as thanks for everything you've done for me and the village. M."

As Gaara read a smile slowly spread across his face. He had a slightly confused look on his face but the smile wiped the confusion away.

"Thank you," Gaara said. "They're beautiful."

Matsuri's face turned even more red and she bowed before turning and rushing out the door. Gaara set the flowers on the desk then turned to Naruto.

"Did she hear?" Gaara asked.

"No," Naruto said. "She arrived about a second before I opened the door. So, what did you feel?"

"I felt...warm," Gaara said. "Warm and shaky...and like I wanted to...what's it called...giggle? Why would I want to do that? I hate emotions."

"Don't," Naruto said. "Those are all signs of love. Especially when you can't admit it to yourself even when you don't realize it."

"Love?" Gaara asked. "You mean like you love your friends?"

"Not exactly," Naruto said. "There are about a hundred and fifty different kinds of love. That's why that one emotion is so confusing. There's love for a friend, for family, for nature, hobbies, you name it. You, however, are suffering from the strongest and best form of love."

"And what's that?" Gaara asked.

"For your significant other," Naruto said.

"Significant other?" Gaara asked. "What's that?"

"You really no almost nothing about love or anything related to it do you?" Naruto asked.

"I've never needed to bother learning about it," Gaara said.

"In simple terms," Naruto said. "You're _in_ love with Matsuri."

"And that's different from the other forms?" Gaara asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "The kind of love you are dealing with means that you want to spend your life with her. That you would give anything to protect her. Sound about right?"

"I...don't know," Gaara said. "I haven't had to give anything to protect just her for a long time."

"How about this then," Naruto said. "You'll start to realize that you're thinking about her a lot more. After a time if you don't tell her how you feel, you'll think about her almost constantly during your free time, then even when you're supposed to focus on something important like a war meeting. Distance can have the same effect. The longer you're away, the more you'll think about them and miss them. Any of that sound familiar?"

"Well," Gaara said. "I admit that I do find myself thinking about her rather often when I have nothing to do. I just thought it was because I was confused."

"Well," Naruto said. "I would give it a few more weeks before telling her so that you can see what it's like and see that I'm telling you the truth."

"How do I tell her?" Gaara asked.

"That depends on her," Naruto said. "I'll have Hinata talk to her and find out what she likes to do then use that to come up with something. She should be here by tomorrow morning."

Gaara nodded and Naruto teleported to Hinata. He explained his and Gaara's conversation then asked her to find out what Matsuri liked.

"You know she doesn't need a perfect date to agree to date Gaara right?" Hinata asked.

"The date is more for Gaara," Naruto said. "He needs to realize that he's happy if she is. Otherwise the relationship won't work."

"True," Hinata said. "Sure. By the way, how did you become so knowledgeable about love."

"Kurama," Naruto said. "It helps when he's a couple thousand years old."

"True," Hinata said. "So, I guess I'll see you later."

Hinata found Matsuri training alone and started by helping her. After they had trained for a while, Hinata started the conversation. Once she had found out all she was going to, she said goodbye then went to Gaara's office while forming a plan for his date. When she arrived Gaara was talking to Kankuro.

"I don't see why we can't just kill that hanyou freak," Kankuro said. "It's probably not even really Naruto anymore."

"You're wrong," Gaara said. "It is Naruto. You're just to prejudice to see that. Even Temari knows."

"It's not Naruto!" Kankuro said. "That thing barely even counts as human anymore. I mean, _smelling_ memories? That's unnatural!"

"Speak for yourself," Hinata said stepping into the room. "If you're going to try to hurt Naruto, you'll have to go through me."

"And me," Gaara said. "I don't want to hurt you, but I won't let you hurt Naruto simply because you don't like hanyou."

"I'm not dropping this," Kankuro growled storming out of the room.

"I'm sorry about that," Gaara said. "Did you find out what I should do when I tell Matsuri how I feel?"

"Yes," Hinata said.

She told him everything she had come up with and he thanked her. She headed back to the apartment she and Naruto were sharing for the night. It had two beds, luckily, so they had no reason to complain if they wanted to. After Hinata told him about Kankuro, they went to bed. They expected a busy day of traveling for the next three days but they had no idea just how busy it would be.

THE END

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	24. Chapter 24

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Kurama."_

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Rematch

"What do you mean Team Kakashi is leaving again already?" Naruto asked glaring at Tsunade.

"Sasori told Sakura about a secret meeting that was supposed to take place at the Tenchi Bridge," Tsunade said. "The reason I'm sending all of you, is that the meeting is with a shinobi who's spying on Orochimaru."

"I see," Naruto said after a time of silence. "And what about Hinata? Tobi's not going to leave her alone just because I nearly killed him."

"No," Tsunade said. "She's going with you. After you deal with your mission, the two of you are to track down the remaining Jinchuriki. Kakashi is out so we're giving you a stand in Captain for the mission. When Kakashi arrives with Fu, would you like me to send her to you?"

"Send her to the Hidden Stone Village for Han and Kokuo," but give her this and tell her to use it on him before she speaks with him."

He handed Tsunade a scroll with the instructions for a variation of the Contract Seal. Tsunade stared at the instructions and raised an eyebrow.

"Did you come up with this or did Kurama?" Tsunade asked.

"I did," Naruto said. "After all, according to the only surviving scroll from Uzushiogakure, Sealing Jutsu were my clan's specialty. I learned a useful seal from that scroll too. And a few other useful jutsus."

"What scroll?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto tossed Tsunade a scroll and teleported to his apartment. When he was gone, Tsunade opened the scroll and stared at the contents.

"He learned all of these?" Tsunade asked. "No wonder he was so happy. Although, I think he might have some trouble with them. After all, they require wind _and_ fire type chakra. Oh. Kurama."

Naruto gathered some clothes in his backpack then opened his door and smiled. Hinata and Sakura were both standing just outside the door.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"We got a mission right?" Sakura asked. "Who's the captain?"

"Not sure," Naruto said. "He should be at the gate inside of five minutes."

"What about me?" Hinata asked. "That seal you used didn't even slow Tobi down last time."

"I know," Naruto said. "His teleportation jutsu is better than mine. Especially now that he locked my range."

Naruto suddenly pulled out a shuriken with the Flying Raijin Jutsu's seal formula on it. He threw the shuriken into a corner of the room then closed the door.

"You're coming with us," Naruto said. "You'd better pack for a while, you and I have to track down the other Jinchuriki after we finish with this mission."

"Okay," Hinata said.

"Where are you staying anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura's guest room," Hinata said. "Why?"

"Just curious," Naruto said. "Aren't you sharing an apartment with Ino?"

"I was," Sakura said. "Until Ino decided to move in with Sai."

"She...wow," Naruto said. "Hey look, it's Kakashi. And Tsunade said he wouldn't be back in time."

"Is that Fu?" Hinata asked.

She was staring at a young girl about their age with short, spiky mint green hair and an orange hair clip in the bangs on her right side that matched her eyes , which was also orange. Her ninja outfit consisted of a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. Her forehead protector was on her right arm, and she carried a cylindrical object in red wrapping on her back.

"What's on her back?" Sakura asked.

"A scroll," Naruto said.

"She knows her shorts are see-through right?" Hinata asked.

"Yep," Naruto said. "She's worse than anyone Jiraiya's ever 'researched'."

"Eeww," Sakura said.

"Calm down," Naruto said. "I'm joking. According to her memories, they're only see-through about two inches on the sides."

"I see," Sakura said.

"Which memories are you looking at?" Hinata asked.

"Memories of her buying her outfit so I could see if she's really that much of a slut and memories of her skill," Naruto said. "She's good."

"What's the scroll for?" Hinata asked.

"No clue," Naruto said. "We'll see when we find the last of the Jinchuriki and go after the Akatsuki."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Hinata asked.

"They have to die eventually," Naruto said. "Might as well be soon."

"True," Hinata said. "Anyway, I should go pack. See you at the gate."

Sakura and Naruto headed to the gate and found Sai waiting with the temporary Captain. He was tall with spiky brown hair and a mask style forehead protector.

"Hello Naruto, Sakura," the shinobi said. "My name is Yamato. I'll be your captain for this mission."

"Nice to meet you," Sakura said.

"And what's your opinion of me?" Naruto asked.

"Undecided," Yamato said honestly. "I'll probably have decided by the end of the mission."

Hinata arrived a short while later and they stood in a line with Yamato in front of them so he could tell them what they were expected to do on the mission.

"First," Yamato said. "We're going to test your teamwork. Naruto, you and Sai attack me and try to incapacitate me. Hinata, you and Sakura run back up."

"Okay," Hinata said.

"Begin," Yamato said turning and running into the forest.

Naruto had spent hours upon arrival placing seals around the trees so he wasn't worried.

"Three...two...one," Naruto said then teleported to a seal a few hundred feet in front of Yamato.

"So that's what all of the seals were for," Yamato said. "That'll make things tricky. Wood Style, Four Pillar Prison Jutsu!"

Wooden beams shout out of the surrounding trees and enclosed Yamato. There were no seals inside so Naruto couldn't teleport inside. Sai arrived a moment later and looked at Naruto calmly.

"He locked himself inside where I can't teleport to him," Naruto said. "I can't smell anything through the wood either."

"You want to blast it open or shall I?" Sai asked.

"I got this," Naruto said forming a clone and then a Rasengan. "Where do you want it?"

"Bottom," Sai said.

Naruto walked on air to the top in case Yamato had heard then slammed the Rasengan into the box. Yamato was gone.

"Shit," Naruto said. "He's not in there."

"Wood Style, Tree World Barrier," Yamato said stepping out of a tree behind them.

Suddenly, hundreds of wooden beams shot out of the ground and wove together into a dome around Naruto and Sai. Naruto sighed and formed a Rasengan and blasted the wall but it only destroyed one and that one instantly regrew.

"Well," Naruto said. "That could be a problem."

"Allow me," Sai said. "Super Beast Scroll!"

He created hundreds of ink snakes covered with paper bombs. The snakes went into the wall then exploded blowing an enormous hole in the wall. They both jumped through just in time for Yamato to pin Sai to the ground and hold his arm out toward Naruto.

"Wind Style, Giant Forest Jutsu!" Yamato said.

His entire arm suddenly turned into wood and then shot at Naruto growing larger until it was a fully grown Oak tree trunk. The tip was pointed but before it reached Naruto, it forked and then smashed into Naruto and pinned him to a tree.

"Jutsu Seal!" Yamato said and a seal formula spread over Naruto's torso. "Now you can't teleport until I release the seal. How long has it been since you fought without that jutsu I wonder?"

"Not long enough to forget how," the real Naruto said appearing behind him holding a Rasengan up to his head while the clone Yamato had pinned disappeared.

"Impressive," Yamato said. "So Sai was a distraction working with a clone of yours. Not bad. Sakura, Hinata, what were you doing?"

"Telling Naruto what you were doing," Hinata said as she and Sakura landed behind Naruto both wearing a wireless radio.

Yamato looked at Naruto and saw he was as well. He raised an eyebrow then smiled and his hand shrunk back to normal.

"Impressive," Yamato said. "Now, I would try different combinations but we're short on time so we need to leave now. Naruto, take point, Sai behind him, then me, then Hinata, then Sakura. Let's go."

They all began heading for the bridge fast and fell into the formation they had been told to. They traveled for a few hours before stopping for a rest. Then they continued until night. That was when the first problem arose. Hinata had forgotten to pack her tent.

"That might be a problem," Sakura said. "Naruto's the only person that has a two person tent."

"You two are the only girls so you can have it," Naruto said. "I'll sleep under the stars."

"I'm so not sleeping in your tent," Sakura said. "God only knows what it's like in there."

"It's a new tent," Naruto said. "I bought it yesterday."

"I don't care!" Sakura said.

"You don't have to sleep under the stars," Hinata said. "I will."

"No," Yamato said. "You both need a tent so for tonight you'll have to share. We'll buy you a new one at the next village we come to."

Hinata nodded and Naruto pulled out his tent and had a few clones set it up. It was just barely big enough for two people but the others had tents barely big enough for one.

"It's not quite as big as I thought," Naruto said. "Maybe I should have bought the three person tent."

"I think we probably should have bought two person tents," Sakura said.

Naruto sighed then sent a clone into the trees to keep watch. Hinata and the others all went to bed but Naruto stayed up for a few minutes to change and give Hinata privacy to do the same. After a few minutes, Hinata opened the tent flap and nodded to Naruto. He had neglected to bring his hat for obvious reasons. He entered his tent and lay on his sleeping bag with his back against the side of the tent to give Hinata as much room as possible. She did the same but they were still less than a foot away from each other.

"Remind me to get a bigger tent," Naruto said shifting to lay on his back, and Hinata lay beside him with her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know," Hinata said. "I don't really mind too much."

"Just wait 'till your father hears," Naruto said.

"Good point," Hinata said. "Did you get a read on Yamato's abilities?"

"Nope," Naruto said. "He's good at shielding himself."

"Meaning?" Hinata asked.

"He smells like trees," Naruto said. "That's all."

"I see," Hinata said. "Guess we'll see soon enough."

Naruto yawned and Hinata did too. Then they closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep. Naruto instantly fell into his dream which was very rare. What's even more rare was that his dream had nothing to do with someone beating him up. Lately it seemed like that was all he could dream. That and nightmares of the miniature Kurama returning and tearing him and Hinata apart.

In this dream, he was sitting under a cherry blossom tree in a field full of hundreds of flowers of every kind and shade of each. It was bright and sunny but wasn't too hot or humid.

"It's beautiful," Hinata said appearing beside Naruto. "Matatabi let me into your head."

"Kurama helped," Naruto said. "So, why'd they put you in my dream?"

"To brighten it up," Hinata said. "How should I know?"

They suddenly felt Kurama and Matatabi's presence and a moment later, there were hundreds upon hundreds of Narutos and Hinatas. All of them were hanyou except the real Naruto and Hinata. Naruto had his hanyou traits hidden so it was easy to tell him apart from the others.

"I think they want us to fight," Hinata said.

"Hinatas versus Narutos or us versus all of them?" Naruto asked.

"You choose," all of the Narutos said.

"I choose to not fight at all," Naruto said.

"You could always sit back and watch while we do what you've been daydreaming about," the Narutos said.

"Fighting it is," Naruto said. "Hinata which one."

"What have you been daydreaming about?" Hinata asked confused.

"Is it us against them or you against me?" Naruto asked.

"Um...you against me," Hinata said. "And if I win you have to tell me."

Naruto nodded and he and the other Naruto began to jump around placing seals while avoiding the Hinatas' attacks. Finally they had placed enough seals so they began to teleport around pinning the Hinatas. The Hinatas also began to fight harder and destroy the Narutos that were busy pinning Hinatas.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" half of the Narutos shouted and their numbers were instantly triple the Hinatas'.

The field grew until they couldn't see the end to accommodate the extra combatants. The hanyou Narutos began using jutsu and kunai to destroy the hanyou Hinatas but then all of them stopped when there were only four of each left. Two were hanyou and two were the real Naruto and Hinata.

"What happens if you two die?" Naruto asked.

"If we die we wake up when you do," Kurama said. "If you die, we all do. Be careful."

Naruto nodded and they all began to fight. After a couple of seconds, Matatabi destroyed Kurama's head with Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists and Naruto drove a kunai up threw her jaw then dodged a blow from Hinata. Hinata was also using Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists but was keeping her power down to a level that Naruto could survive. Naruto Didn't bother teleporting because he was able to keep just out of her reach. Finally he saw and opening and dropped to the ground spinning and swept her feet out from under her. Then he pinned her arms down and pressed a kunai to her throat.

"I win," Naruto said.

"Fine," Hinata said. "But I want to know."

"I'll tell you what," Naruto said. "Ask me again after we're married."

"M-married?" Hinata asked blushing.

"Oh come on," Naruto said. "Don't act like you haven't considered it."

"Well...yes, but..." Hinata blushed even more then grinned and it faded. "I wasn't aware that we were engaged."

"Not yet," Naruto said. "Probably just a matter of time though. At least, in Neji's mind. He thinks we might already be engaged."

"So, you don't want to be engaged yet?" Hinata asked.

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant," Naruto said. "I just...don't think I'm ready."

"Okay," Hinata said.

"Time to wake up," Kurama said appearing beside Naruto as a hanyou.

"Okay," Naruto said and a moment later he and Hinata were back in the tent.

Hinata let Naruto up and Naruto grabbed his stuff then teleported to a seal he had placed about fifty meters away when he had changed the night before. He then walked back to the camp and began packing up the rest of his stuff.

"Good morning," Sakura said when she left her tent already dressed.

"Morning," Naruto said closing his backpack and sitting on a log.

"Hello Naruto, Sakura," Yamato said stepping out of a tree. "Naruto, your clone's gone."

"It's what?" Naruto asked sniffing.

Yamato was right. The clone Naruto had left was gone but that wasn't all. Hinata was gone too."

"Shit," Naruto said teleporting to Hinata.

He appeared inside of a cave and saw Hinata chained to a wall with Tobi standing next to a fire staring at Naruto in annoyance.

"Should have figured you'd figure it out too soon," Tobi said. "Go ahead, take her."

"Contract Seal first," Naruto said.

"I don't think so," Fu said stepping out from behind a boulder while Han walked in through the mouth of the cave.

"So you're already under his control," Naruto said.

"Wasn't when we met," Fu said. "Han introduced me. My master was waiting when I arrived."

"I see," Naruto said. "Tobi, I'm going to kick your ass."

Naruto sprinted forward and Tobi leapt backward as Fu jumped into his path. Naruto made three hand seals then placed his hand on Fu's shoulder. The seal contract spread across her shoulder covering half of her chest and back then faded and Fu turned to glare at Tobi.

"Use the seal on Han," Naruto said. "Tobi's mine."

"Sure," Fu said removing the scroll from its place on her back. "You know how one of your specialties is you teleportation jutsu? Well, so is mine. It may not be as effective or fast as yours, or even move me, but I think it's still pretty good. As is my clone jutsu."

"Clone Jutsu?" Naruto asked.

Fu set the scroll on the ground and rolled it sideways revealing a seal formula forming a circle.

"Secret Technique, Portal Horde Jutsu!" Fu said forming four hand seals and slammed her hand into the center of the seal formula.

It began to glow and she pulled her hand back just as a pillar of light shot up out of the circle to the ceiling. Then hundreds of Fu clones shot out of it armed with a wide range of weapons. Han dropped onto his back and began spinning using the steam from his armor to propel himself and used his feet and hands to destroy the clones which disappeared in a blinding flash of light when destroyed. After a couple moments, Fu suddenly appeared using the light from her destroyed clones as cover and placed the seal Naruto had given her on Han's chest. He stopped spinning then sat up and looked around finally glaring at Tobi.

"Now was that really so hard?" Fu asked. "If you had just let me do that to begin with it wouldn't have taken half as long."

"I see," Tobi said. "So you created a seal that can be used on the other end of a Contract Seal."

"Ready for yours?" Naruto asked.

"You can't touch me," Tobi said. "If I don't let you."

"True," Naruto said. "So I'll have to settle for using my new seal on Hinata."

Naruto walked toward her and Tobi suddenly appeared in front of Naruto with a sword. Just then, a column of light appeared beside him and Fu stepped through then punched him. He stumbled into Naruto who placed a Contract Seal on his stomach before stabbing his hand through again. He held his other hand out and a shadow clone appeared and formed a Rasengan with him. Naruto then slammed the Rasengan into his face destroying his mask but again he disappeared before they could see his face. The mask stayed and the pieces smashed against the wall of the cave and Naruto sighed and turned to Hinata.

"Now, what do you say we get back to the others?" Naruto asked.

"Okay," Hinata said. "A little help?"

"Fu, scroll," Naruto said pointing.

"Oh right," Fu said putting her scroll away. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Now," Naruto said holding his hand out to Fu and Han while resting the other on Hinata's shoulder. "Care for a lift away from here?"

Han and Fu both laid their hands on top of Naruto and he teleported them all back to the seal nearest their camp.

"What do you want me and Han to do?" Fu asked.

"For now, lay low," Naruto said. "Tobi seems pretty keen on finding you guys so you can either stay with me or find B and stay with him."

"I'll find B," Han said.

"I'm good here," Fu said. "God knows what I can learn from you."

"Any idea what your chakra nature is?" Naruto asked.

"None," Fu said then paused before continuing. "Chomei says I have Wind and Earth, Water, and Fire type chakra."

"Impressive," Naruto said. "There's quite a few extras you could use."

"Really?" Fu asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Wood Style, Lava Style, and Boil Style at least."

"Cool," Fu said. "Can you teach me?"

"They may be Kekkei Genkai and even if they aren't, I only have Wind Type Chakra."

_"That you know of,"_ Kurama said. _"That may just be your affinity. It's possible to have a second chakra nature without being very good at it."_

_"Do I have a second nature?"_ Naruto asked.

_"Yes,"_ Kurama said. _"Two, in fact. Earth and Fire. Fire is present thanks only to me but you could use it without me controlling you."_

Naruto smirked and then looked around as a huge beam of wood shot out of the trees at him.

"Beast Wave Gale Palm!" Naruto said holding his hand out.

The jutsu blew Yamato's arm to pieces but it just kept coming. When it was close enough, he jumped up onto the top and began walking on it like a treadmill.

"It's me Captain Yamato," Naruto said. "I'm Naruto."

"Oh," Yamato said stepping out of the bushes and retracting his arm. "Who's the girl?"

"Fu," Naruto said. "Jinchuriki of the Seven-tailed Beast."

"Oh," Yamato said. "I assume she's coming with us?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "So, can we get moving now? We still need to make a pit stop for a tent, now two, and we need to get to the bridge before we miss the meeting."

"True," Yamato said. "Come on."

He turned and began walking away and they followed. After a few minutes, they found Sai and Sakura waiting and they continued toward the Tenchi Bridge. True to his word, Yamato allowed them to stop at a village where they all bought a new tent. This time, they all bought three person tents so that they would have enough room if something happened to someone else's.

"We're almost there," Yamato said. "If we move at top speed, we should have about two hours to prepare."

"Who's top speed?" Naruto asked. "Yours, Sakura's, or me and Hinata's?"

"Mine," Yamato said.

Naruto nodded and they began heading out again. After about five hours of traveling, they reached the bridge and Sakura began to tell Yamato everything she knew about Sasori since he was going to pretend to be him. While he did, Naruto placed seals all around the area and on the bridge. Then he concealed those on the bridge by shrinking them until they were hard to see without looking for them. Sai spent the time placing explosive tags around the bridge and hiding tagged animals around the area on both sides of the bridge. Hinata watched for anyone approaching and Fu prepared her teleportation jutsu in case she was needed.

The Bridge itself was curved and was held in place with suspension wires. It was fairly stable but if Naruto had to fight anyone in the Akatsuki, he expected there wouldn't be a bridge left.

"They're coming," Hinata finally said. "It's Kabuto."

"You said they," Naruto said.

"Orochimaru's following him," Hinata said. "Sasori was going to be double crossed."

"I see," Yamato said. "Should I ask about it?"

"No," Sakura said. "But be ready to dodge and attack. He'll think it's a puppet so you need to be careful."

Yamato nodded and they all took their positions. Naruto had also placed a seal on Yamato just to be safe. Yamato used wood style to form his copy of Sasori's puppet then got ready for Kabuto. After what seemed like an eternity, Kabuto finally appeared on the far end of the bridge. He was wearing a blue trench coat with the hood up and his face hidden. He walked to the center of the bridge and faced the edge toward the wind. The, Yamato made his way over to him and stopped.

"It's been a long time, Lord Sasori," Kabuto said pulling his hood down. "About five years right?"

"Were you followed?" Yamato asked in Sasori's voice.

Kabuto looked back the way he had come then said, "It's just you and me."

"How do you feel?" Yamato asked.

"Well I still haven't shaken that strange sensation from when your jutsu broke and I remembered who I was again," Kabuto said. "My head still feels clouded and heavy."

"I have a few questions for you," Yamato said.

"I don't have much time so please keep it brief," Kabuto said. "I risked my life sneaking out to meet you without Orochimaru finding out."

"I want information about Sasuke, as well as the location of your boss's hideout," Yamato said.

"Orochimaru has several hideouts," Kabuto said. "We keep moving to a different one every week to avoid being detected by the enemy. Of course, many are here in the Hidden Sound Village, but some are in other lands too. He has spies everywhere acting as his eyes and ears. There are so many ways a person can get around. It's not easy to track them."

"The current hideout?" Yamato asked impatiently.

"Right now Orochimaru is holed up on a small island in a lake just to the north of here," Kabuto said. "We'll be moving again in three days. Sasuke Uchiha is there as well."

"What's he saying?" Sakura asked.

"Does it matter?" Naruto asked. "I'm going to pound the true information out of him and Orochimaru as soon as we get the signal."

"True," Sakura said.

"Oh by the way," Kabuto said then spun threw a shuriken into the bushes and a rabbit stood up then hopped off.

"It was nothing, just a wild rabbit," Kabuto said straightening and turning back to Yamato.

"Here comes Orochimaru," Naruto said hearing Orochimaru walking toward them.

"As I was saying," Kabuto said. "We should discuss the orders you gave me Lord Sasori. Even after reanimation, Orochimaru uses a protection jutsu on the specimens from his discarded vessel. So I was unable to analyze their cellular structure as you commanded me."

"I see," Yamato said.

"Now, I trust you brought the item you promised me," Kabuto said. "Let's do the hand off, I've spent too much time here as it is."

He held his hand out.

"If I were to be discovered speaking to you like this, Orochimaru would certainly kill me," Kabuto said.

"I'm aware," Yamato said drawing a kunai.

Just as he started forward, though, Orochimaru appeared beside Kabuto.

"Your conversation sound, intriguing," Orochimaru said.

He had his usual outfit on and his arms crossed with a fifteen foot green snake wrapped around his body and peeking out from behind Kabuto.

"I hope neither of you would mind if I joined in the fun," Orochimaru continued.

"Enter the snake," Naruto said. "Now watch for the sign."

"I'm pretty sure the sign isn't coming," Sai said.

"So that's him," Sai said.

Orochimaru's snake suddenly wrapped around Kabuto and he leapt away from it sending his cloak soaring. Then he landed in front of Sasori.

"Lord Sasori," Kabuto said. "If you hadn't pulled out that kunai, I wouldn't have gotten away from him in time."

Yamato looked at Kabuto for a moment then back at Orochimaru. Orochimaru's snake suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I remember that garb, it sure brings back memories, Sasori," Orochimaru said.

"So you followed Kabuto, did you?" Yamato asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to thank you in person," Orochimaru said. "After all, you're the one who sent this kid to me, and he's come in very handy. The development of any new usually eats up well over a hundred human test subjects, but thanks to your spies Medical Ninjutsu skills, I've been able to reuse my test subjects again and again. For some reason it's always so hard to find volunteers."

"Hurry up Yamato," Naruto said. "I can't wait forever."

Kabuto held up his hand and began channeling chakra into it preparing an attack and Naruto crouched preparing to teleport. Then Kabuto spun and removed Yamato's disguise's head. Yamato had been cut on the arm and leapt backward into the air away from them.

"Multiple Striking Shadow Snake!" Orochimaru said holding his arm out as nine snakes extended from his sleeve.

Naruto was about to use his jutsu but Hinata caught his arm. Naruto understood and sure enough when the snakes caught and bit Yamato, it turned into a wood clone. Yamato landed on the ground a ways away. Then Naruto teleported to Yamato and Sai landed next to him while Hinata, Fu, and Sakura landed behind him and Fu threw a tarp off the bridge revealing her open scroll. She then made the hand seals and opened the portal.

"Wood Style Substitution?" Orochimaru asked. "Interesting."

"Lord Orochimaru, is that Sasori's real body?" Kabuto asked.

"Sasori?" Orochimaru asked. "Certainly not. Oh Kabuto, you mean all this time as his faithful servant, and you've yet to see the man's real face?"

"Well he always hides it behind those weird puppets of his," Kabuto said. "The man is such a dreary fellow."

"I take it Orochimaru broke Sasori's jutsu," Yamato said. "No surprise there."

"So I see," Orochimaru said. "So nice to see you again Naruto. And a Hyuga. You really came prepared."

"I'm all you need to worry about Orochimaru," Naruto said.

"Not true," Orochimaru said. "I think that I'm more than you alone can handle."

"Wanna put that to the test?" Naruto asked.

"Calm down Naruto," Yamato said. "You and Sai are a team, remember?"

"He's useless against Orochimaru," Naruto said. "And he's a lot stronger now that he can use his arms. I'm going to fight Orochimaru and if I need help, Hinata and Fu will aid me."

"Why the Hyuga?" Orochimaru asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Naruto said. "Are you ready?"

"No!" Yamato said. "I'm not leaving the fate of the mission up to a hanyou!"

Naruto suddenly spun around and punched Yamato in the jaw sending him shooting into the trees.

"Sakura," Naruto said and Sakura went to heal Yamato.

"Okay," Naruto said crouching. "Orochimaru, I'm going to-"

He teleported to stand directly behind Orochimaru and placing a seal on his shoulder.

"-kill you," Naruto finished. "You should run."

Orochimaru took the hint and took off running. Naruto looked at Kabuto who smirked.

"Sai, restrain Orochimaru's bitch," Naruto said before turning and running after Orochimaru.

Sai smirked and all of his snakes slithered up over the sides of the bridge and wrapped around Kabuto. Kabuto struggled until he saw the explosive tags and froze.

"You're not going anywhere," Sai said. "If you so much as twitch, you die."

Naruto Landed on a branch in front of Orochimaru who stopped.

"You're fast," Orochimaru said. "But without your prisoner, you're no mach for me."

"Try me," Naruto said.

"Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes!" Orochimaru said this time shooting a hundred snakes out.

Naruto smirked and teleported to Orochimaru then cut all of the snakes off with his claws. Orochimaru screamed then jumped away and his arm extended from his sleeve with blood running down and dripping from the finger tips.

"Not bad," Orochimaru said biting his thumb to draw blood. "I think it's time for me to stop screwing around. Summoning Jutsu!"

He slammed his hand on the ground and an enormous cloud of smoke erupted from under it. When it cleared, there was an enormous eight headed white snake sitting there and he was on top of it.

"Like it?" Orochimaru asked.

"Depends," Naruto said. "Let's see what it can do."

Naruto ran up the snake's stomach but all of the heads opened their mouths and thousands upon thousands of snakes fell out. The snakes hit Naruto then crashed into the ground and Hinata instantly ran to free him. At the same time, Fu released a thousand clones then switched her portal's destination to in front of Orochimaru's snake. The clones all went through and began throwing snakes off of the pile. Hinata arrived and began blasting them off with Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists and Orochimaru watched in amusement all the while. Finally, they removed the last of the snakes only to find that Naruto wasn't there.

"What?" Orochimaru said in shock.

"You really thought that was all it would take?" Naruto asked appearing behind Orochimaru. "I just went back to the village."

Orochimaru smirked and suddenly spun Kicking Naruto in the side of the head and sending him flying. Naruto landed hard on the other side of the bridge then stood. He smiled and shook his head then teleported back to Orochimaru just as Orochimaru released his summon and Naruto began to fall. Orochimaru landed on Manda who he summoned immediately after releasing his last summon. Naruto flipped over and landed on the air halfway to the ground.

"Impressive," Orochimaru said. "But I can still kill you."

"You don't even realize I've been toying with you do you?" Naruto asked. "Well, then let's see if you remember my friend."

He let Kurama take over and Kurama formed a shadow clone and both began making hand seals.

"Ah, the nine-tails on a leash," Orochimaru said.

"Searing Migraine!" one Kurama said.

"Pressure Damage!" the other said.

The two attacks mixed instantly and a huge pillar of fire shot at Orochimaru. Just as it hit, he fell away as mud but the heat crystallized the mud instantly keeping the clone from reforming.

"Impressive," Orochimaru said rising out of the ground. "My turn. Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes!"

He again shot out a hundred but this time they picked up two enormous boulders. They threw them at the two Kuramas and one was destroyed while the other phased out of the other side of the boulder.

"What?" Orochimaru said in utter confusion.

"Oh come on," Kurama said. "It's one of the hundreds of jutsu you use all the time."

"The Attack Prevention Technique," Orochimaru said. "Of course you would know that one. I want to fight Naruto again."

"And I want out of the kid but we don't always get what we want do we?" Kurama asked.

Kurama smirked and suddenly appeared behind Orochimaru but Orochimaru turned to mud again and the real one suddenly appeared on all fours and a sword blade extended from his mouth hitting Kurama in the back and then kept extending until Kurama smashed through the Tenchi Bridge destroying it and accidentally freeing Kabuto and then smashed into the cliff beside what was left. Then Orochimaru retracted the blade and removed the seal from his back. Just as he turned to leave, however, Sai appeared.

"I'm an envoy from Danzo," Sai said smiling. "I'm not your enemy. And on his behalf I'd like a word with you."

"Danzo huh?" Orochimaru asked. "That senile geezer is still alive and still up to his old tricks. So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I come bearing a message from Danzo to be delivered to you," Sai said. "He says-"

"Hold it!" Orochimaru said causing Sai's smile to falter. "When you speak to me, I suggest you choose your words carefully or else you'll die."

Sai smiled again and said, "But sir, I am only allowed to relay exactly as Danzo has instructed me. If the message meats with your displeasure, by all means do what you will."

Orochimaru smiled and licked his lips as he had a habit of doing then looked at the ground just behind Sai. Then he opened his mouth and spit his snake sword out. It flew through the air and stabbed Sai through the heart.

"You don't know the first thing about good manors do you?" Orochimaru asked.

Sai simply stood there for a moment before turning into ink and falling away. The sword turned into a snake and slithered back to Orochimaru.

"When addressing someone of superior rank," Orochimaru continued. "Proper etiquette dictates you face them directly."

The snake appeared over Orochimaru's shoulder staring at a spot a distance behind where the ink clone had been. A moment later, the ground crumbled and Sai rose from the hole.

"Well then?" Orochimaru asked. "Speak up."

"The truth of the matter is, my master, Lord Danzo, has longed to meet you Lord Orochimaru," Sai said. "Ever since the time you nearly destroyed the Leaf."

* * *

Kurama stood and scratched his back where Orochimaru's sword had hit him. It had barely left a mark but now it was starting to itch because the blood was starting to return to it. Hinata and Fu arrived a moment later and Naruto retook control.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Barely left a mark," Naruto said. "Itches though. Now, what's Sai doing?"

"Can't tell from here," Hinata said.

"I can hear them talking but that's all," Naruto said. "Can't tell what their saying."

* * *

"And that's the message Danzo wished me to convey," Sai said after relaying the message.

"I find that very interesting," Orochimaru said. "It's a very intriguing story, but give me one good reason why I should believe you."

Sai reached into his backpack to retrieve his reason but before he could, Kabuto appeared and tackled him spilling the contents of his backpack all over the ground before pressing a kunai to his neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kabuto asked.

"Let's not be hasty Kabuto, calm down," Orochimaru said smiling. "I believe our ranks may have just increased by one."

"You don't actually think that we can trust...this one" Kabuto began glaring down at Sai.

"The contents of that envelope might convince you," Sai said referring to a manilla folder halfway between Orochimaru and himself. "Open it. It's from Lord Danzo to you."

Orochimaru walked forward and knelt picking up the folder. He opened it and folded the top back then pulled out several sheets of paper.

"Why this is..." Orochimaru trailed off scanning the first page.

"What does it say?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru slid the papers back in and held the folder at his side then said, "Kabuto, let the child go. We're going to be taking him with us."

Kabuto stood and put his knife away but didn't take his eyes off of Sai.

"Shall we be leaving Sai?" Orochimaru asked. "That's your name isn't it?"

Sai smiled and nodded and they all began to move. A moment later, Naruto appeared at his seal and looked around then sighed and teleported back to the others while sending a clone after Orochimaru, Sai, and Kabuto.

"They're gone," Naruto said. "My clone is tracking them."

"As is mine," Yamato said. "We should pursue. They'll lead us to their base, and Sasuke."

They nodded and headed after the others but not before retrieving Sai's things for any hint as to why he betrayed them.

THE END

* * *

Read and review. This story will be on hold due to lack of ideas. When I get three suggestions for fights and at least one suggestion for a pairing with two characters I haven't already paired with anyone, I will continue. That was confusing. Here's what I need. 3 fight suggestions 1+ pairings of unused characters.


	25. Chapter 25

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Still open to ideas and am practically begging for them. Need a pairing idea for Hanabi, Fu, and one for Choji would be nice.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with Quotes mean Conversations with Kurama."_

* * *

Taken

"Hanabi, you must try harder if you intend to keep up with that freak with the Byakugan," Hiashi said as his daughter struggled to copy Hinata's Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.

Her main problem was that every time she got close to succeeding, her father would speak and break her concentration making all of her effort blow up in her face, literally. The horrible excuses for lion heads that she had formed would literally explode throwing her back a few feet. She would push herself up and continue, but it was clear that Hiashi was starting to grow angry at his daughter for failing. The courtyard she was training in was starting to turn black from burn marks and there was a spot on the tree where an explosion had cleared the bark off of it. The last straw was when the heads simply dissolved because Hanabi didn't have enough chakra to form them.

"Enough!" Hiashi said. "You are clearly not going to succeed with your current training. From now on, you will wake up at two every morning and train until ten o'clock pm then you will go to sleep. You may have half an hour for lunch. That is it."

"B-but-" Hanabi tried to say stuttering due to exhaustion and not wanting to make her father any more angry.

"Did you just stutter?" Hiashi interrupted. "A Hyuga does _not_ stutter. Weak children that don't deserve to be trained at all stutter. Are you that child?"

"N-no," Hanabi said.

"Excuse me?" Hiashi asked.

"I'm not that girl, father," Hanabi said.

"Then form a fucking lion head!" Hiashi snapped.

Hanabi jumped at the anger in his voice and tried to form a lion head but this time her hand barely began to glow before the chakra faded.

"I see," Hiashi said. "Weak child it is. You've earned a punishment Hanabi. Come here."

"N...no," Hanabi said backing away fearing what she knew he would do to her.

"Get over here!" Hiashi said, his voice icy.

"No!" Hanabi said bumping into a pillar.

"GET THE FUCK OVER HERE YOU USELESS CHILD!" Hiashi shouted standing.

"NO!" Hanabi said turning and running toward the door.

Unfortunately for her, she was so tired that she tripped over her own feet and landed hard on her stomach. She rolled over just as Hiashi caught up with her. He activated his Byakugan and raised his hand but a boy about her age maybe a year older, appeared beside Hiashi and smashed his knee into his face then jumped and spun kicking him in the face and sending him flying. Hiashi smashed into a pillar and began to stand so the boy picked Hanabi up bridal style and jumped onto the roof of the Hyuga Compound then began moving as fast as he could toward the Hokage monument.

When he reached the top of the monument, he set Hanabi down gently and then stepped back and bowed.

"I apologize for attacking your father and for touching you without permission," the boy said following a tradition that the most uptight Hyugas followed but no one else did.

Even Hanabi hated the tradition of males needing permission to touch a female at all when saving them. The part about attacking her father was fair, though.

"I forgive you," Hanabi said. "Thank you for saving me, but who are you?"

"My name is Konohamaru," Konohamaru said sitting up and scratching the back of his head. "You're Hanabi Hyuga, right?"

"How do you know that?" Hanabi asked.

Konohamaru instantly looked away and scratched the back of his head again.

"Oh, um, you know, just rumors," Konohamaru said.

"Like what?" Hanabi asked.

"Nothing important and nothing negative," Konohamaru said. "Was your father that strict with Hinata?"

"Worse," Hanabi said. "When I go home he's going to kill me."

"Don't go home," Konohamaru said. "You're welcome to stay with me."

"Really?" Hanabi asked smirking and raising an eyebrow causing Konohamaru to blush.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Konohamaru said. "Geez, all girls are the same."

"How many aside from Moegi do you hang out with?"

"How did you know I hang out with Moegi?" Konohamaru asked raising an eyebrow.

This time, Hanabi blushed and began twiddling her fingers much like Hinata did when she was younger.

"You're a lot like Hinata," Konohamaru said smirking.

"And you're a lot like Naru...I didn't mean it like that," Hanabi said turning even more red.

Konohamaru pointed at her and laughed then sighed and looked around.

"So, are you going to go home?" Konohamaru asked.

"I don't know," Hanabi said. "Are you sure it's alright if I stay with you?"

"It's fine," Konohamaru said. "Then we can train together. I won't even be as strict as your father."

Hanabi smiled and nodded then looked up at the sky. There was one cloud that she could make an image out of and smirked. The image she was able to make was of her father with a kunai in the side of his neck. She would never actually want her father dead but sometimes, when he was especially bad, she would fantasize about him not being around to boss her around.

"So," Konohamaru said standing. "We'd better go tell Tsunade about it so that Hiashi can't get her to make you go home."

"True," Hanabi said standing but suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled into Konohamaru who instinctively tried to catch her to keep her from falling but accidentally caught her in a hug.

Once her dizziness had passed a half second later, she realized how they were standing at the same time as him and stepped away. They both blushed and looked away from each other.

"Sorry," Konohamaru said.

"Me too," Hanabi said.

After a moment they began making their way down to Tsunade's office using the stairs so that there was less of a danger of Hanabi falling. When they reached Tsunade's office, Hiashi was already there having a screaming match with Tsunade.

"THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T MAKE HER COME HOME!?" Hiashi shouted.

"SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER FOR GOD'S SAKE AND YOU TREAT HER LIKE A SLAVE!" Tsunade said. "NO WONDER HINATA DIDN'T MIND BEING DISOWNED!"

"DON'T YOU DARE ACT LIKE YOU KNOW HOW TO RAISE A CHILD!" Hiashi thundered growing steadily louder. "YOU'RE SO OLD AND DECREPID YOU COULDN'T GET ANYONE TO DATE YOU IF YOU TRIED EVEN WITH THAT JUTSU OF YOURS! EVEN WITH THAT SLUT SHIRT OF YOURS! ALTHOUGH, IT DOES MATCH YOUR SLUT PERSONALLITY!"

The office was instantly deadly silent. Konohamaru could practically hear Hiashi's heartbeat speeding up at the realization that he had ticked off Tsunade. He expected there to be the sound of an explosion or even a scream as Tsunade killed Hiashi but instead the door exploded off of its hinges and Hiashi flew out with it.

"Ah, Konohamaru, Hanabi, come on in," Tsunade said cheerfully. "Your father an I were just talking."

Konohamaru glanced at Hiashi unconscious with most of his face bloodied and paled.

"Then I'm not so sure I want to talk right now," Konohamaru said.

"Oh don't worry," Tsunade said. "I don't hit kids. Only him and Naruto."

Konohamaru nodded and walked in with Hanabi.

"She doesn't want to go home," Konohamaru said.

"I should think not," Tsunade said. "So, I assume you two have an alternate plan?"

"She's going to stay with me," Konohamaru said.

"Okay then," Tsunade said. "Like sister like sister indeed. Go ahead."

Konohamaru and Hanabi glanced at each other wide-eyed at Tsunade's assumption then looked back at her and both began denying having any romantic feelings toward each other. Tsunade simply laughed and waved a hand.

"Okay, okay," Tsunade said. "Just get out of here, I'm not supposed to drink in front of anyone."

Konohamaru sighed then stood and he and Hanabi left. Tsunade reached for her bottle of sake but stopped because a group of children from the academy ran in asking for autographs with Shizune right behind them.

"I'm going to pay you back for making me agree to only do it in private," Tsunade said.

Shizune smiled and shrugged despite knowing Tsunade was telling the truth. After the children had left Tsunade healed Hiashi then had a couple ANBU members take him home.

The next day, Shizune was stuck in Tsunade's office doing all of Tsunade's paperwork while Tsunade walked around the village looking at all of the wine stores. There were quite a few of them. Just as she passed the last, Jiraiya stepped out of it and into her.

"Ow," Tsunade said. "Watch it Jiraiya."

"Sorry," Jiraiya said. "At least you have something to cushion the blow."

"I'll put you in the hospital again," Tsunade warned.

"I didn't say anything," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and began walking back toward her office. Jiraiya followed at a distance.

Once Hanabi had woken up and gotten cleaned up and changed into clothes Tsunade had had delivered to her, Konohamaru asked what she wanted to do first. Since he had gotten up and gotten ready for the day before her, they could leave immediately.

"I don't know," Hanabi said.

"It's simple," Konohamaru said. "What do you usually do in the mornings?"

"My father usually makes me get up at five to train and if I'm this late he punishes me first then makes me train extra late," Hanabi said.

"It's only five thirty," Konohamaru said.

"I know, I slept in so late," Hanabi said genuinely amazed.

"I gotta ask, what punishment would he generally give?" Konohamaru asked.

"He would paralyze my arms then make me spar him," Hanabi said. "He really only ever did it to Hinata and made her spar me but he did it to me a couple of times."

"That's harsh," Konohamaru said. "Okay, what do you _want_ to do?"

"Um...I don't know," Hanabi said. "What do you want to do?"

"How about we go get breakfast?" Konohamaru asked.

"But, my father says that eating anything other than lunch will make me get fat," Hanabi said.

"He's full of it," Konohamaru said. "You won't get fat from having breakfast in the mornings. With the training schedule he had you on, it's a wonder you haven't died from malnutrition."

"Are you sure I won't get fat?" Hanabi asked.

"I eat five times a day and probably don't burn half as much energy as you and I'm not fat," Konohamaru said.

"True," Hanabi said. "Okay. Where do you want to eat?"

"Up to you," Konohamaru said.

"I don't know anyplace," Hanabi said.

"What do you like?" Konohamaru asked.

"Um, bananas and milk," Hanabi said blushing.

Konohamaru grinned then shook his head and sighed.

"That's it, I'm going to show you what real food is," Konohamaru said. "And I know just the place to start."

"Not Ichiraku's," Hanabi said. "I hate ramen."

"Oh fine then," Konohamaru said rolling his eyes. "Yakiniku Q is good to."

Hanabi smirked and shook her head then they headed to the restaurant. When they got there, Konohamaru got an order of self-cook pork chops and Hanabi simply got a salad.

"That's not much of a breakfast," Konohamaru said.

"And pork chops are?" Hanabi asked.

"Fair enough," Konohamaru said. "So, what do you want to do for training?"

"Well, my father was trying to get me to use the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists," Hanabi said.

"Do you want to learn that?" Konohamaru asked.

"Kind of," Hanabi said.

"Then maybe you should ask Hinata to teach it to you," Konohamaru said.

"True," Hanabi said. "But, my father doesn't want me associating with her."

"I doubt he would want you associating with me either," Konohamaru pointed out. "I did beat him up after all."

"True," Hanabi said. "Maybe I could keep trying to learn it on my own though."

"If you want," Konohamaru said. "What am I going to do for training?"

"I suppose we could spar," Hanabi said.

"Okay," Konohamaru said as their food arrived. "You want some pork?"

"No thank you," Hanabi said.

Konohamaru shrugged and began to cook his pork. Hanabi ate her salad slowly and finished eating about the same time as Konohamaru. Konohamaru paid the bill and they headed to a clearing just outside the village to train. The first thing Hanabi did was try to form a lion head. When it exploded, Konohamaru caught Hanabi.

"Maybe you should try less to form a lion head and more to gather chakra," Konohamaru said. "Maybe the head forms itself and may not be a lion for you."

Hanabi nodded and did as he expected. To both of their surprise, a head formed over each hand in the shape of a tiger. Unlike Hinata's, Hanabi's tiger heads were white.

"Told you you could do it," Konohamaru said. "Now, want to spar?"

"Sure," Hanabi said.

They took their place and Hanabi chose not to use the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, or in her case Tiger Fists, so she took her usual stance. Konohamaru threw several kunai at Hanabi and she dodged them all then activated her Byakugan and saw a second Konohamaru had been hidden as a kunai. Just as he got in range, she spun and hit him with Gentle Fist destroying him since he was a clone then she spun back around just in time to avoid a punch from Konohamaru and punch him in the stomach so that he wasn't hurt too badly.

"Not bad," Konohamaru said. "Let's try this."

He leapt back and into the air then threw three shuriken.

"Ninja Art, Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Konohamaru said.

All of the shuriken multiplied until there were hundreds of them. Hanabi spun and began to use Eight Trigrams Rotation and blocked the ones that would have hit her. Then four of the shuriken turned into Konohamaru clones and charged at her with two Rasengans. Hanabi leapt into the air and the Rasengans exploded against each other destroying the clones. Just as she began to descend, Konohamaru appeared behind her and wrapped wire around her. Then he landed and caught her then set her against a tree and leaned against one directly in front of her.

"I would have killed you before you could catch me if it were a real fight," Hanabi said.

"If it were a real fight I would have started with that jutsu," Konohamaru said.

Hanabi sighed then looked down at the wire. It wasn't sharp so it wouldn't ruing her clothes but it was strong enough that she couldn't break free. She sighed and looked at Konohamaru in annoyance.

"Let me up," Hanabi said.

"I don't know," Konohamaru said grinning wickedly. "I like women tied down."

"Very funny," Hanabi said.

"Look left," Konohamaru said.

Hanabi did and saw a clone with a kunai twirling it around on his finger.

"Hurry up," Hanabi said.

"Nothing's free," the clone said.

"Then I guess I'm staying tied up," Hanabi said.

"Ouch," Konohamaru said. "That's not what I wanted anyway. I was going to say that you had to buy me lunch. You were the one who was thinking about kissing me."

"Oh," Hanabi said turning bright red. "Just let me go."

The clone grinned and cut the wire before disappearing. Hanabi pushed the wire away from herself then stood.

"Want to try again?" Hanabi asked. "I'll fight you for that lunch."

"Sure," Konohamaru said. "After you."

Hanabi activated her Byakugan then formed her tiger heads. Konohamaru instantly used the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu but Hanabi spun with the tiger heads and the shuriken all shot back at him. He used the jutsu again and blocked them then jumped into the air narrowly avoiding Hanabi's attack. He spun grabbing a kunai and began to throw it but Hanabi threw one of her own and hit him in the shoulder. He hit the ground hard and the kunai that had hit him fell out. He lay completely still and every second Hanabi's fear that she had seriously hurt him grew.

After about fifteen seconds of him not moving, she finally ran over. The moment she was close enough, he spun and tripped her then pinned her arms to her sides with his knees and smirked.

"It took you fifteen seconds to think that you hurt me," Konohamaru said. "what if you really had. I could be dead."

Hanabi blushed at how gullible she had been, how slow to check on him, and and the fact that he was sitting on her. Konohamaru stretched his arms up over his head yawning then smiled.

"Let me up," Hanabi said.

"Nah," Konohamaru said. "I'm pretty comfortable."

"Please," Hanabi said.

"Nope," Konohamaru said.

Hanabi sat up and shoved him backward off of her and tried to stand but their legs got tangled together and Hanabi fell forward onto Konohamaru. As if Karma had something to prove, when Hanabi landed, her lips crashed into Konohamaru's. Both blushed and Hanabi threw herself off of him blushing even more when she tripped over his feet again and landed against the tree where she had been tied up. Then her surprise overcame her brain and she froze staring at Konohamaru. He sat up face still as red as hers but grinning from ear to ear.

"You know," Konohamaru said. "If you wanted a kiss you could have just asked."

Hanabi simply stared at him struggling to remember how to control her body and he stood.

"You okay?" Konohamaru asked.

Hanabi managed to nod and pushed herself up and Konohamaru grinned again.

"What's so funny?" Hanabi asked.

"You're covered in mud and twigs," Konohamaru said.

Hanabi looked at her back and saw that he was right. Her entire back was so caked in mud and twigs that if she lay on her stomach, it would be an effective camouflage. Her hair was worse and was so matted that she couldn't run her fingers through it without pulling a clump of hair out. She realized that Konohamaru was also muddy but not nearly as bad as her.

"You're not exactly spotless yourself," Hanabi said.

"I'll clean easily," Konohamaru said. "A garden hose could clean me. You, not so much."

Hanabi rolled her eyes then sighed.

"I'm going to clean up," Hanabi said. "I'll meet you...where?"

"Ichiraku's," Konohamaru said. "I won so I get to pick."

"Fine," Hanabi said. "I hate you."

"Oh so that's why you kissed me," Konohamaru said grinning and instantly jumped back out of the way of an attack.

Hanabi sighed then turned and went back to Konohamaru's house and removed her clothes then got into the shower. She got the mud off of her body first then removed the twigs from her hair so that she could clean it. Unfortunately, Karma again wanted to embarrass her but on a much larger scale this time. The moment she had removed the last of the twigs from her hair, something, rough, black, and thick covered her eyes and a cloth pressed against her face over her mouth and nose. She smelled chloroform and felt light-headed. Her head began to spin, then her senses began to feel clouded. Then there was nothing.

When she awoke, she was still blind folded and from what she could tell she was tied into a wooden chair with a netting back and should have a netting seat but that had been cut out. She could feel that her hands were tied to the back legs and her ankles to the front and the back of the chair ended about two inches below her neck. She tried to activate her Byakugan but suddenly felt her stomach instantly begin to scream. It was obviously a jutsu seal of some kind but the pain had been too bad for her to figure out what it was.

"So the princess wakes," a gruff masculine voice said before laughing. "And here I was hoping we'd have to kiss her, or better yet-"

"That's enough," another even deeper male voice said. "We're not here to enjoy ourselves. We're here for the ransom."

"And after we get the money and kill that rich bastard?" the first voice asked clearly asking permission.

"Then she's yours," the second sighed. "Honestly, you would think that those girls from the last twenty villages would be enough to keep you entertained. Where did they go anyway?"

"You know I always kill them after they stop fighting me," the first said. "It's so much less fun then."

"Enough," the second said. "Let's just make the goddamn call."

"Alright," the first said. "We'll-"

Just then Hanabi heard glass shatter to her right and the two men shouted in surprise. Then she heard metal clattering against cement and hitting something solid that they stuck in. One of the two shouted in dismay and fear then let out a thick gurgle and she heard something heavy slump to the floor.

"Who's there?" Hanabi asked

She heard someone walk over to stand behind her then heard them crouch. Then the ropes around her wrists and ankles were cut and she instantly pulled the blind fold off and looked behind her. It was Konohamaru. She stood and took a step back and nearly tripped over something. She looked down and saw the corpses of the two men. One had kunai and shuriken sticking out of his torso and the other had his throat cut nearly to the bone from the front.

"You...killed them," Hanabi said.

"I had to," Konohamaru said. "They would have-"

Before he could finish, Hanabi stepped forward and threw her arms around him puling him into a hug. He hugged her back and after a moment, she pulled back enough to kiss him. He kissed her back and after a few seconds pulled away and blushed slightly.

"You know, you're still naked," Konohamaru said.

Hanabi instantly turned bright red and wrapped her arms across her chest while crossing her legs.

"Don't worry," Konohamaru said. "I have an idea."

Just as he said this, a grey cloak a little taller than either of them fell through an open sky light and Konohamaru caught it then put it around Hanabi. She put her arms out through the sleeves and held it closed.

"Who's is it?" Hanabi asked.

"It's Shino's old one," Konohamaru said. "When I found out they had taken you, I had him find you and he gave me told me that you would need it before I came."

"I see," Hanabi said. "I should get home and finish washing my hair."

"It looks clean to me," Konohamaru said. "You should get dressed though."

Hanabi nodded and she and Konohamaru headed back to his house. After that, the day was fairly uneventful. Hanabi bought them ramen for supper since they had missed lunch then she and Konohamaru thanked Shino for his help.

THE END

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	26. Chapter 26

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I decided to skip most of Naruto and his team following Sai and Orochimaru because it's really boring and there isn't really that much I can do with it. I know that almost all of the fights in this chapter never happened at all but I wanted to have some fun. Plus, I figured having only Naruto fight until Sai and Sasuke get going at it seemed boring.

* * *

Old Grudge

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Tailed-beasts."_

Naruto ran through the hall. It shouldn't have been taking him this long to be able to find Sasuke but Sasuke had been in the base for so long that it was impossible to smell anything but him, disturbing and gay as it may sound. Sasuke's smell was everywhere. Naruto was practically choking on it by now but kept going and found a room where the smell was strongest and he had to lower his sense of smell to near human to be able to breathe.

"Found you," Naruto said kicking the door open.

* * *

Sakura ran down the hall she was in checking every door quietly but losing hope that she would find Sasuke. Fu was with her and Fu was mixed with nearly and army of herself so that if they ran into trouble they could deal with it. And every once in a while, they would open a door and find several Sound Ninja which Fu would deal with before they could raise an alarm. She would generally only knock them out and give them a big enough concussion that they wouldn't wake up for a few hours but every once in a while someone would put up a fight and she would be forced to kill them.

* * *

Hinata was running through the base using her Byakugan to search for Sasuke or Sai but was having as much luck as Naruto. She too had started out with her sense of smell but had given up sooner when she had nearly choked. Now she had, typically, run into a section of the base where chakra was so thick it was about all she could see. She could see different people's chakra but couldn't see much else. Finally she stopped using her Byakugan and started trying to find them the hard way.

* * *

Yamato had left a wood clone to watch over Kabuto who they had tricked into leaving the base then retrained. Yamato himself was running through the base as fast as he could with much the same strategy as Sakura, open doors, deal with enemies, and search for Sasuke and Sai. He was having about the same amount of luck too. Then he entered a room and froze. He had found something he hadn't expected and he really wished he hadn't.

* * *

Hinata ran through the last door in her section of the base and froze she knew that room. She had been there before. And she really didn't want to be there again. Especially given _he_ was there with her.

* * *

Fu and Sakura ran into the last room in their section of the base and stopped. They were in a room that was beyond foreboding. The worst part was, it had as many enemies as Fu had clones. None of the enemies looked particularly normal or surprised to see them. Fu sent her clones in and within seconds, the shinobi had destroyed them without so much as a scratch or bruise. Fu's clones hadn't been able to touch them.

"Wonderful," Fu said. "What are they?"

"No clue," Sakura said.

"We are Lord Orochimaru's rejects," one of them said. "But we are still enough to deal with you."

"Really?" Sakura asked. "Then how are you rejects?"

"You should see the perfect and semi-perfect ones," the shinobi asked. "Then you would understand. They are perfect. We...we are the products of miscalculations and failures. Would you like to see how we are imperfect? What we can do that we shouldn't be able to?"

Before Sakura or Fu could answer, all of the men doubled over. Cursed seals somewhere on their body activated and they instantly entered their second forms. At the same time, Sakura looked up and saw that the ceiling was rigged with explosive tags.

"You're quick," the leader said. "Obviously Lord Orochimaru can't let us simply walk free. Those tags keep us in here."

"Well that makes things easier," Sakura said. "I detonate those and you all get crushed."

"True," the shinobi said. "Then again, the one who steps out survives."

And with that, the shinobi sprinted forward as did all of the others. Sakura threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached but it was too late. Before the kunai had gotten half way, the lead shinobi stepped through the door smashing both kunoichi away as the tags exploded behind him causing the roof to collapse on the others. Sakura groaned and stood as Fu did the same. Then both turned and began to run hoping for a larger room to fight in than the hall. After about a minute, they reached a large room and stopped. They weren't going to find much to fight him in so it would have to do. After a moment of waiting, the shinobi strolled leisurely into the room a kunai in his left hand and a katana in his right.

"You two are going to regret not running away," the shinobi said.

"We'll see," Sakura said. "Fu, send me."

Fu unrolled her scroll and opened a portal to directly behind the shinobi. Sakura stepped toward her end of it and the shinobi stepped out of it slashing her across the chest with his kunai and stabbing Fu through the stomach with his sword. He pulled his sword free and threw Fu then sighed in disappointment.

"You know, I had hoped for a challenge," the shinobi said.

"Sure," Fu said as red chakra began to cover her. "Try this."

The chakra darkened until it was blood red and so dense that it was all that the shinobi and Sakura could see. Then it took the general shape of an insect. Fu still had arms and legs but had wings and a bug shaped head. Fu grinned and shot forward smashing the shinobi back and he landed on his feet grinning.

"I'm impressed," the shinobi said. "That change is quite impressive. Now let's test it."

He sprinted forward and Fu flew to meet him. The chakra over his fingers grew into claws and she slashed at the shinobi. He tried to block it with his kunai and her claws cut it into tiny pieces then she spun and kicked him away. He smashed into the wall and dropped onto his feet and began streaming his chakra through his sword. Fu charged again and slashed at him and he blocked it then spun and slashed her back cutting through her chakra cloak and into her back about a half inch. She stumbled forward then spun slashing his sword away and drover her other hand through the shinobi's stomach then the chakra faded from her body and Sakura ran over. She had healed herself and began to heal Fu instantly. Fu's stab wound had healed but the cut on her back was still present and her entire body was covered in chakra burns. The cut healed fairly quickly but the burns were slow to heal at best.

* * *

Yamato turned to leave the room he was in but the door swung closed and locked. He turned back around and sighed. Standing across the room from him was a pile of white clay. The clay formed a body and it solidified into Deidara. Yamato groaned then bot ready to fight. Deidara smirked and pulled out a bag of clay then began shoving it into his mouth as well as the mouths in his palms. After a couple of seconds, he began to swell and threw the empty bag aside. Yamato used his Wood Style Ninjutsu to cover Deidara in ten feet of wood and Deidara still blasted the wood off and damaged the room. At the same time, miniature Deidara dolls were thrown throughout the room from the explosion. Yamato's eyes widened and he turned sprinting away from the room as miniature Deidaras chased him and exploded almost as much as the full size one had. Finally a Sound ninja caught him and they both went to the floor. Yamato kicked the shinobi off just as a Deidara leapt into the air directly over his head and exploded. The others all exploded in the same spot all together. Once they were all gone, Yamato rose out of the floor wiping some sweat from his face.

"Damn that was close," Yamato said. "I didn't think I'd be able to get out of the way. Well I didn't find him. Maybe one of the others did."

* * *

Naruto crouched raising every sense except smell to their max. He let his claws grew to their longest at around four and a half inches and his growled in anger. Across the room from him was a bed that had been recently made with a small dresser beside it and a lamp on the other side. That was all that was in the room except for the person lounging on the bed.

"Hello again Naruto," Orochimaru said standing beside the bed. "Like it? A bit simple, I know. I keep telling Sasuke he should decorate a little."

"So it's Sasuke's room," Naruto said. "That would explain the smell."

"I know," Orochimaru said. "Raw power smells so amazing. Snakes have a keen nose for that."

"Then I must smell like heaven," Naruto said.

"No," Orochimaru said. "You had a form that was raw power but you did away with it. That was a mistake."

Naruto growled and charged forward but Orochimaru leapt to his right off of the bed which Naruto smashed into pieces. He grabbed the dresser and threw it at Orochimaru but Orochimaru stretched his body out of the way then returned to his normal shape and grinned.

"Is that all you've got?" Orochimaru asked. "My my, I'm quite unimpressed."

Naruto grinned and pulled out twenty kunai then threw them into the walls ceiling and floor at set intervals around the room. Orochimaru looked at one by his foot and his eyes widened as he saw a jutsu seal on the hilt and Naruto's foot appeared beside it. There was only one however, Orochimaru realized this just as Naruto's other foot crashed into the side of his face and sent him flying. Orochimaru hit the wall and coiled up like a spring but before he could jump off the wall he noticed another kunai beside him. His eyes widened and Naruto appeared and kicked him away again. This time, Orochimaru flew directly into Naruto's Rasengan and it exploded sending him flying into the opposite wall. He was beginning to get annoyed. He grabbed the kunai nearest to him and threw it at Naruto then sent out snakes to gather the rest into a neat pile. Naruto smirked and closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them revealing red irises with slit pupils.

"Now then," Kurama said making a hand seal. "Let's try this again shall we? Shadow Clone Jutsu. Pressure Damage!'

"Searing Migraine," the clone said and began to swell.

Then the clone opened its mouth and flames shot out mixing with the Pressure Damage and both shot at Orochimaru. The jutsu hit him erupting into a huge explosion. When it died down, Orochimaru's hand was laying on the floor and a snake was slithering away. Naruto threw a kunai and it hit just in front of the snake making it stop and rise up. Then it began to gag and regurgitated Orochimaru.

"Not bad," Orochimaru said as the base shook slightly. "I think one of my favorite successes has found a playmate. Your girlfriend."

* * *

Hinata didn't bother turning toward the door. She could already see that it was gone with her Byakugan. In this room, her Byakugan worked because this room was more or less a parallel universe. She couldn't think of any other term to describe is aside from maybe pocket dimension. It was also an exact replica of the inside of Naruto's mind minus Kurama or Naruto. All that was there, was the miniature Kurama.

Hinata stumbled back a step and the miniature Kurama blurred forward about a hundred meters before her foot had even hit the ground. There was no way she could outrun or avoid it which left one option.

_"Matatabi,"_ Hinata said. _"I'll need your help."_

_"I know," _Matatabi said. _"Let me out. Let me take control completely and I'll kill him."_

_ "Naruto said that Kurama was the strongest of all of you," _Hinata said.

_"He is," _Matatabi said.

_"Well that thing is just as strong as Kurama,"_ Hinata said. _"We'll have to work together."_

_ "Alright," _Matatabi said. _"Create a shadow clone and I'll control it through your chakra."_

Hinata created a clone and Matatabi took control then took a deep breath and began making hand seals.

"Fire Style, Fire Ball Jutsu!" Matatabi said before launching an enormous ball of flames at the miniature Kurama.

Hinata hid directly behind the fire ball running on air as Naruto had showed her. It was difficult to keep control but she was able to keep moving. When the fire ball exploded on the mini Kurama, Hinata leapt over him correctly suspecting it wouldn't do much damage. She formed lion heads around her fists and smashed both into the back of the abomination's head and sent it flying. The blow had been strong but not nearly strong enough to kill the thing. Luckily, just as the abomination was standing, Matatabi smashed into its back with all the strength she had then wrapped it completely in her most powerful explosive tags which she told Hinata could even leave Shukaku so severely injured that he couldn't move for at least a month. She had had Hinata let her make the tags during some free time they had and Hinata was now extremely happy she did.

The tags exploded and when the smoke cleared, the abomination stood where it had been bleeding from a couple of scratches and sporting several bruises but only one major thing had happened. It now had a curse mark covering most of its body.

"A curse mark?" Matatabi said in shock. "Damn it Orochimaru! What have you done?"

Hinata readied her Gentle Step Twin Lion fists and Matatabi pulled out more explosive tags. Before they could use them, however, the abomination collapsed and began twitching, blood leaking out of its mouth and pooling around it. Matatabi began to relax but Hinata wasn't quite as easy to lower her guard. It was a good thing she did too because a moment later the abomination leapt up and blurred toward them, curse mark returning to its dormant state. Hinata reacted out of instinct and jabbed her right hand forward somehow connecting with the abomination's chest and sending it flying. It began to stand again but this time Hinata's attack had left a gaping maw where its chest had been.

It looked down at its chest and reached its arm completely threw then puled it back out before collapsing. A moment later its fur and tails all fell off as did its other fox features and revealed an emaciated human that was difficult to tell whether it was male or female. It had a pair of loose pants on but aside from that was bare. Matatabi told Hinata that it was a male sound ninja from the Land of Sound and that he had probably volunteered for experimentation in hopes of becoming strong.

_"He succeeded,"_ Hinata said. _"Too bad for him."_

Hinata released the clone and the room around her shimmered and faded leaving a small perfectly cubic room empty of anything except a chain fastened to the wall and broken with the other end attached to a collar around the corpse's neck. Hinata sighed and sat against a wall to rest. A minute later, the entire base shook violently.

* * *

Naruto stood groaning. He and Orochimaru had continued fighting and as Orochimaru's snakes had piled his kunai together he hadn't been able to use his teleportation jutsu so Orochimaru had slowly begun gaining the advantage. Now Naruto was losing his patience and was about ready to have Kurama kill him.

Just then the base shook violently throwing both Naruto and Orochimaru to the floor both looking at the other for an explanation.

"Wasn't me," Naruto said.

"Same here," Orochimaru said.

Orochimaru suddenly fell away into thousands of snakes and they all slithered out through cracks in the walls. Naruto ran out the door and toward the source of the explosion. He ran out of a hall into a crater that took a large portion of the base and reduced it to ruins with a steep cliff on each side. It actually formed somewhat of an arena. Just as he stepped out of his hall, Hinata appeared beside him and Fu, Sakura, and Yamato stepped out of a hall in the other side.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Later," Hinata said. "Trust me, I'll need to talk about it but now's not the time."

He looked where she was and blinked in surprise. Sai and Sasuke looked like they were fighting and now that Naruto used his sense of smell, he could smell Sai's chakra around the area. He had caused the explosion so he was, no doubt, trying to assassinate Sasuke.

"This is why you betrayed us?" Naruto shouted to Sai. "Wow. And here I thought you were just a dick. You know, if you had let me in on the plan I could have helped. I also would have been happy to help you kick his ass."

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"He made me turn into that miniature Kurama freak!" Naruto called back shrugging.

"Naruto," Sasuke said. "Welcome. I must say, you really are good at pretending to be human."

"I could always turn into the form you pushed me into if you like," Naruto said.

Sasuke visibly paled and his eyes widened a bit.

"That's okay," Sasuke said. "I think I'm fine just fighting you. But, I'm curious. Are you so ashamed of being a hanyou that you would cut your power nearly in half simply to rid yourself of your ears and tail?"

"Tails," Naruto said. "I have two now."

"Impressive," Sasuke said. "Of course, the more you you have the more dangerous your temper will be. You know that right? Every time you lose your temper completely you will become that abomination again and the more tails you have, the more easily you will lose your temper."

"You reduce your power by hiding your hanyou traits?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto said. "But that's okay. It just gives me a reason to train harder."

"But you could kill Tobi in two seconds if you stopped hiding your power," Hinata said.

"I don't need that power to fight him," Naruto said.

He looked back to Sasuke to see that he was more than a little nervous to face Naruto again. Naruto grinned and decided to give him a reason for his nervousness to turn into genuine fear. He sprinted up at Sasuke nearly a blur and Sasuke drew the chokuto in the back of his rope belt and charged back. Sasuke swung at Naruto streaming his lightning chakra at his head but Naruto sidestepped the blade and slashed his chest then jumped spinning and kicked him away while using his foot to place a hand seal on the side of his head. Sasuke landed on his feet and looked around not seeing Naruto. Then Naruto stepped around from behind him and slashed his arm then kicked him back and walked back to Hinata. Sasuke was on his back struggling to stand in the center of the crater and the others all began walking toward him ready for any attack he might throw at them.

"How did you...do that?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, that's right," Naruto said grinning. "You've never seen my teleportation jutsu up close before have you? Well basically, it's my father's jutsu."

"It's the Fourth Hokage's jutsu," Sasuke said. "But I guess you were never really taught about him were you?"

Naruto raised en eyebrow and Sasuke charged at Hinata swinging his sword. Without teleporting, Naruto caught Sasuke's arm and Sai grabbed his other arm pinning it to his back.

"You replaced me," Sasuke said. "I'm impressed. I didn't think there was anyone that you could connect with like you did me. Do you consider him your brother too?"

"No," Naruto said. "He's a friend. Right now, though, that's more than I consider you. Next time you want to die, don't threaten Hinata, just ask. Since you threatened her, though, I think I'll have some fun."

He released his transformation jutsu allowing his tails and ears to appear and grinned as fear appeared on Sasuke's face.

"I've got this Sai," Naruto said and Sai stepped back.

Sasuke instantly swung his free arm around with a Lightning blade but Naruto caught his wrist grinning evilly.

"My turn," Naruto said.

He began twisting Sasuke's arms and was about to twist them off when Hinata placed her hand on his shoulder and he threw Sasuke back then placed a hand to his forehead.

"Damn," Naruto said. "I was hoping you were full of it Sasuke. Guess I need to find B then."

"I can help with that after we finish the mission," Fu said.

"Alright," Naruto said. "So, Sasuke, want to come with us willingly or in need of emergency medical attention?"

"Neither," Orochimaru said appearing on top of the side of the crater. "Sasuke, time to go."

Kabuto landed beside Sasuke and threw him toward Orochimaru and began to jump but Naruto caught his ankle and swung him down smashing him into the ground. Orochimaru took a step forward but Sasuke caught his arm.

"You really want to die for Kabuto?" Sasuke asked.

"Good point," Orochimaru said. "See you around Naruto."

Naruto looked at them in time to see their bodies begin to burn from their feet vanishing. Naruto looked back at Kabuto just in time to see the top of his head disappear. He looked back at Sasuke but he had already left.

"Damn," Naruto said. "Alright then. Captain Yamato, can you and Sakura get back to the village yourselves?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "Good luck with your mission."

"Thanks," Naruto said as Fu walked over and rolled her scroll out opening a portal.

"How do you get the scroll through?" Naruto asked.

"Easy," Fu said picking up the scroll and putting it away. "Once the portal's open it stays open as long as I can feed it chakra. Shall we?"

Naruto stepped through and Hinata followed then Fu. Then the portal closed and Naruto looked around. They were standing on top of a mountain in the middle of an island without any sign of civilization anywhere. Naruto turned to Fu and she simply held up a finger. A moment later, B scrambled over the edge of the mountain and stood then saw them.

"What...but...how...you...fucking teleportation jutsus," B said resting his head in his hand.

"Where's Han?" Naruto asked.

"Who?" B asked.

"Didn't think he'd make it here," Naruto said. "Think Tobi's going to simply take Kokuo this time?"

"Probably not," Fu said. "Makes things much harder."

"What's he want anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Who knows?" Fu asked shrugging. "Probably using the Tailed-beasts' power to create a jutsu that can kill anyone or to make himself stronger."

"He could use it," Naruto said grinning.

"More than you know," a calm voice said.

THE END

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	27. Chapter 27

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. In this time line, the Akatsuki had to speed things up a lot so I decided to skip the Twelve guardian shinobi arc and the Hidan and Kakuzu arc. They will still be introduced later but this way Asuma is still alive. I know, I know, it's a very cheesy way for Naruto to beat the abomination, so sue me. Not really. I know the chapter sucks but I was writing this half asleep so please forgive me.

* * *

_Italics mean thoughts._

"_Italics with quotes mean conversations with Tailed-beasts."_

* * *

Three

Itachi appeared on the edge of the cliff behind Naruto who was actually surprised by his presence.

"Naruto," Itachi said bowing slightly to show his respect. "I have something you may wish to know."

"Go for it," Naruto said.

"Madara Uchiha has returned," Itachi said.

"Come again?" Naruto asked.

_"Madara Uchiha is the most powerful Uchiha ever born,"_ Kurama said.

"Is he Tobi?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure," Itachi said. "He claimed to be and it would explain how he can move around so easily and control Jinchuriki. He also may just be another exceptionally strong Uchiha. Either way, he's collecting the Tailed-beasts for two reasons. The first is so that he can become unstoppable and the second is how that would happen. You see, he intends to create the ultimate weapon that can level entire nations in a matter of moments. He must not succeed."

"Isn't that the Akatsuki's plan?" Naruto asked.

"No," Itachi said. "The Akatsuki had no idea what they actually intended to do with the Jinchuriki. We follow Pein and he follows Madara. You may be able to sway him, however. He would be a powerful ally."

"Tell me about Tobi," Naruto said. "And how many Jinchuriki have the Akatsuki acquired?"

"We have Han, San Goku, and a Jinchuriki by the name of Utakata," Itachi said. "I'm not your enemy. Han is having Kokuo sealed but Utakata is an roaming agent. He is currently looking for Isobu."

"I see," Naruto said. "Can you get me to Utakata?"

"No," Itachi said. "But from what I've heard you will be getting a mission to go after the Three-tails soon. Take B and head back to the Leaf. Tell Tsunade that the others have all been taken and there was nothing you could do. I'll try to help if I can. Until then, good luck."

And with that, he turned into a flock of crows and flew away. Naruto sighed and they all placed a hand on Naruto's shoulders. Then he teleported them all back to the Hidden Leaf. When they got there, they went to Tsunade who told them that they had three days off then were being sent to another of Orochimaru's hideouts, or at least what they thought was one, where a squad of ANBU had disappeared.

"I had nothing to do with it this time," Naruto said.

"I know," Tsunade said. "Otherwise I would have to arrest you. Probably even execute you."

"Then what is it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Tsunade said. "But I think that you can handle it, whatever _it_ is."

"Alright," Naruto said. "Since we've got three days off anyway, I think I'll go train."

"Not yet," Matatabi said temporarily taking control of Hinata. "First you need to separate Kurama from his power."

"What about my tails?" Naruto asked. "I still have another seven to burn through."

"The more you have the more powerful you'll be but you will also be more likely to relapse into that thing again," Matatabi said. "Do you want Hinata to have to fight it again?"

"No," Naruto said. "B, I'll need your help."

B started to say something then sighed and nodded.

"You know you can talk if you don't rap right?" Naruto asked.

B nodded again and Naruto shrugged.

"Fu," B said. "Falls of Truth."

Fu nodded and lay out her scroll opening a portal. They all stepped through leaving Tsunade behind and the portal closed.

"Now what?" Naruto asked.

"Sit there and be ready," B said.

"For what?" Naruto asked before leaping over to the platform B had pointed at.

He sat down taking Lotus Position and B smiled.

"You'll see," B said.

Naruto sighed closing his eyes and a moment later he felt something pulling at his shoulders and head. He opened his eyes just as the last strands of flesh separated from him and retracted into a second him sitting across from him. He could tell that it wasn't a clone but wasn't sure what it was. Then it opened its eyes and he saw that its eyes were black with red irises.

"Well look at this," the second Naruto said. "You really want to do this don't you?"

"Do what?" Naruto asked.

"You didn't explain did you?" the second Naruto asked turning to B. "I will then. You see, in order to control Kurama you must first control you hatred, anger, and evil. A.K.A. me."

"So I need to control you to be able to control Kurama," Naruto said. "Hate to tell you but you aren't my evil. My evil is-"

And that was as far as he got. The second Naruto's face suddenly contorted and blood red chakra exploded off of him. Naruto was through at the waterfall but landed on the face of it and looked back up. In place of the second Naruto was the same abomination that Naruto had become twice. Naruto felt terrified and calm at the same time. He knew what to do but the problem was doing it.

"Oh shit," B said. "I didn't see that coming."

"I would have if you had warned me," Hinata said. "I could have told you that this is what he would have to face."

"All he has to do is let go of every negative feeling he has," B said. "Although, I just killed my evil side."

Hinata ran to the platform standing beside Naruto as he landed back on the platform. He sighed and looked around.

"Looking for something?" the abomination asked.

"Trying to find another way out of it," Naruto said. "No such luck, of course. Hinata, you need to leave. Trust me when I say you can't fight him."

"But, I've fought him before," Hinata said.

"Not when he's pure evil you haven't," Naruto said.

"What about when he was inside of you?" Hinata asked.

"Still not completely evil," Naruto said. "He had some of me in him even then. Now go."

"No," Hinata said. "I'm going to help you."

"Fu, B," Naruto said. "Get out of here. This thing's not something you want to mess with."

"You're not going to argue with me?" Hinata asked.

"If there's anything I know about you it's that I can't keep you from walking at my side if I cut all of your limbs off," Naruto said smirking. "So, think it's possible to make a Byakurasengan in reality?"

"Don't know," Hinata said. "Let's find out."

They held their hands out but only formed a normal Rasengan.

"Damn," Naruto said. "Well that sucks."

"Are you two done wasting time yet?" the abomination asked. "It's not you that her chakra is compatible with. It's me."

Naruto created a Rasengan and charged at the abomination but it smashed him away easily then appeared behind Hinata and grabbed her by the arm. Naruto stood just as the abomination used Hinata's chakra to form a massive Byakurasengan. He teleported to her side then grabbed her and leapt away throwing a kunai at the Rasengan but the Rasengan disintegrated the kunai before it even touched it.

"Shit," Naruto said. "Hinata, what emotion are you feeling?"

"Anger at that thing," Hinata said.

"Well don't," Naruto said. "Think about anything and everything that makes you feel calm."

The abomination raised the Rasengan as Hinata closed her eyes and just before the abomination could throw the Rasengan, it dissolved. Then Naruto landed against the waterfall again this time with Hinata and they formed their own Byakurasengan.

"Let's try this again," Naruto said leaping at the abomination.

The abomination leapt away from them but they smashed the Rasengan into its back and it shot into the air before the Byakurasengan exploded. Then the abomination crashed back down in front of them. A moment later it was on its feet again and was cracking its neck smirking.

"The more anger you feel the stronger I get," the abomination said. "And you are some kind of ticked."

"Damn it!" Naruto said. "How do I kill him if he just gets stronger when I try?"

"Simple," Hinata said. "You don't. You could just let go of all of your negative emotions."

"You make that sound easy," Naruto said.

"You're angry with the citizens of the Leaf for treating you like a monster right?" Hinata asked.

"Wouldn't you be?" Naruto asked. "You may be a Jinchuriki but you haven't had people treating you like a monster with the exception of your father. If everyone acted like they thought you were a monster, wouldn't you be angry?"

"Yes," Hinata said. "But you have to let your anger go. Focus on the thing that makes you feel most calm and at peace."

"I really don't need you to give me my own advice," Naruto said. "Fine. I'll give it a shot."

The abomination could sense what Naruto was about to do so he charged forward but before he could Naruto jumped and kicked him away then knelt and pulled out a small black box. Hinata stared in shock as Naruto opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"I suppose since I'm supposed to focus on the best part of my life I might as well ask now," Naruto said. "Hinata, will you marry me?"

Hinata simply stared at him as her face began turning a darker and darker shade of red. She fought to stay conscious and was able to nod before finally fainting. Naruto smiled and caught her then looked at the abomination who was resting his face in one hand and holding his elbow with the other.

"You just had to ruin my fun," the abomination said as he began to fade.

Once he was gone Naruto sighed and walked away from the waterfall in the direction B and Fu had run. After about three minutes of traveling, Fu and B met him and B raised an eyebrow.

"How did it go?" B asked.

"Surprisingly well," Naruto said. "I would have figured she'd faint before saying yes."

"Saying yes?" Fu asked.

"What are you talking about?" B asked not bothering to rap. "I meant the fight."

"Oh that went well too," Naruto said.

"Wait," Fu said seeing the box that Hinata was holding in a death grip. "Did you propose to Hinata?"

"Yes," Naruto said.

Both of them stared at him then B smirked and Fu began cheering accidentally waking up Hinata.

"What happened?" Hinata asked.

"You fainted when I proposed to you," Naruto said.

Hinata instantly turned red again and fainted again.

"Do you think there's any way for you to tell her that without her fainting?" B asked.

"No," Naruto said. "Eventually she'll be able to stay awake, though."

Fu smiled and rolled out her scroll opening a portal back to Tsunade's office. They stepped through and instantly stepped back through. Tsunade was drunk and Jiraiya was happy. Fu changed the destination to Naruto's house and they stepped through again. This time she let her portal close and Naruto set Hinata on the bed.

"So," Naruto said. "What's next?"

"Now you have to release and fight Kurama," B said. "While you do, you need to pull his chakra out of him then reseal him."

"Well that sound easy," Naruto said sarcastically.

"Who said it would be easy?" B asked. "Just be thankful you've only got half on his power inside of you."

"What?" Naruto asked.

_"The Fourth Hokage only sealed half of me inside you,"_ Kurama said. _"The other half is inside himself. Or rather, it was."_

Naruto sighed just as there was a frantic knock at the door. Naruto opened it and Shizune instantly began talking.

"LADYTSUNADENEEDSYOURHELPANDWANTSMETOAPOLOGIZEFORW HATHAPPENEDEARLIER!" Shizune said in under one second.

"Um...okay," Naruto said. "Mind saying that a little slower?"

"Lady Tsunade needs your help and asked me to apologize for what happened earlier," Shizune said.

Naruto shrugged and they all went to Tsunade's office to find her half asleep. She woke back up when she saw them.

"Naruto," Tsunade said her words slurred so much they were almost indistinguishable from each other. "You got to send a squad to that base."

"Isn't that your job?" Naruto asked.

"Oh yeah," Tsunade said. "Team 8 will go after Orochimaru with Kakashi."

"What about me?" Naruto asked.

"You need to keep Fu and B safe from Tobi," Tsunade said.

"Great," Naruto said. "Who's going to keep Hinata safe?"

"Hinata'll be fine," Tsunade said.

"But-" Naruto began.

"Dismissed," Tsunade said before finally passing out.

"Damn," Naruto sighed. "I guess there's no choice then. Good luck Hinata."

"Thank you," Hinata said.

"Hinata," Kurenai said walking into the room. "I think it's long past time I gave you something that should help you a lot since you're being separated from the one ninja that can protect you from Tobi. It's a seal of sorts that will keep you from being placed under a Genjutsu."

"Okay," Hinata said.

Kurenai walked over and made several hand seals then placed the seal on Hinata's stomach. Then she sighed and smiled.

"Now, I think I should get back to bed before I force myself into labor," Kurenai said.

"Thank you," Naruto said.

"Of course," Kurenai said.

Then she turned and left. Hinata sighed then went to find the rest of her squad then they headed out. Naruto decided to wait on actually sealing away Kurama's chakra so instead he went to find Neji for advice.

* * *

"YOU WHAT!?" Neji shouted.

"SSHH!" Naruto said covering Neji's mouth before anyone heard. "I proposed to her. I know Hiashi will kill me for it but for right now I just need advice about what to do."

"Commit suicide!" Neji said. "Trust me you'd be better off and so would she."

"No!" Naruto said. "Tobi would take control of her or kill her in two seconds."

"True," Neji said. "Alright then. If you're serious and certain it's what you want, protect her. Eventually it'll work out."

"What if Hiashi finds out?" Naruto asked.

"He disowned her when she became a Jinchuriki," Neji said. "Technically he has no say in what she does now. The only one you have to worry about is Tsunade. Also me if you ever hurt her."

"I won't," Naruto said.

"For your sake I hope not," Neji said. "Anyway, you should probably go and see Yamato. He said he had some training for you."

Naruto nodded and went to find him. After about thirty minutes, he found him at the usual training field.

"Alright Naruto," Yamato said. "Since you're here, you need to learn to use change in chakra nature."

"You mean you want him to change his Rasengan into a Wind Style Rasengan right?" Kurama asked taking control to speak with Yamato.

"Well...um...yes," Yamato said.

"Easy enough," Kurama said. "I'll show him how."

"Well, okay, I guess," Yamato said then muttered, "I kind of wanted to show him myself though."

A moment later Naruto was in control again and summoned a clone to help him form it but he still had a hard time keeping it under control.

"This isn't going well," Naruto said. "I have an idea."

He summoned an extra clone and they formed a Rasengan with a shuriken made out of chakra spinning around the outside. He smirked and Yamato clapped then Naruto let it fade. Then he sighed in disappointment.

"What's wrong?" Yamato asked.

"Kurama just warned me that using that jutsu will damage my Chakra Network," Naruto said. "Too bad too. I wanted to see that one in action."

"Then how about a Collaboration Ninjutsu?" Yamato said. "Maybe with one of your toad summons?"

"Maybe," Naruto said. "What do I have to do?"

"Channel your chakra and theirs into a jutsu at the exact same time," Yamato said. "Your chakra has to be at the same level and amount as well so you must be in perfect sync with whoever you do it with."

"Like me and Hinata creating a Byakurasengan?" Naruto asked.

"That would be one example I guess," Yamato said. "Try shooting a stream of high-powered flame from a toad with Flame Style jutsu. Or a stream of equally high-powered water from one with Water Style jutsu."

Naruto summoned Gamatatsu and Gamakichi and asked them what kinds of jutsu they could do.

"Fire," Gamakichi said.

"Water," Gamatatsu said.

"Okay," Naruto said remembering training Naruto had forced him to do with Gamatatsu while he was away from the Leaf. "Let's try a Collaboration Ninjutsu."

He created a clone and Gamakichi and Gamatatsu moved a ways away. Both Narutos placed a hand on one of the toad's backs and counted to three. All four of them channeled chakra into a pair of jutsus and Gamakichi fired a powerful stream of fire but Gamatatsu's jutsu fell out as a mouthful of drool.

"Jump Gamatatsu!" Naruto said and the toad leapt into the air.

They landed after the fire had passed and Naruto sighed. They tried again and this time both released a powerful stream of their jutsu and the two blasts exploded against each other forming an enormous crater. Naruto smiled just as Sakura and Sai arrived.

"Hey Sai," Naruto said. "Still emotionless?"

"Well, not exactly," Sai said. "I need your advice about something."

"And what are you here for?" Naruto asked looking at Sakura.

"I heard an interesting rumor about you and Hinata being engaged," Sakura said.

"Who from?" Naruto asked.

"Fu," Sakura said. "She's running her mouth to the whole village."

"What do you need advice about Sai?" Naruto asked deciding to avoid that conversation.

"Um," Sai said staring at his feet. "It's kind of...private."

"Can you give us a moment?" Naruto asked looking at Sakura.

Sakura glared at him for a moment then turned and walked away.

"Thank you," Sai said. "Well...the other day me and Ino were hanging around her house while I taught her to paint but...then...we were...well..."

"Sai, spit it out," Naruto said.

"One minute we were painting and the next we were in her bedroom," Sai said. "Alone...together..."

"So," Naruto said pinching the bridge of his nose. "You had sex."

"Um...yes," Sai said.

"So?" Naruto asked.

"She said that she loved me," Sai said.

"So?" Naruto asked again.

"Well...how do you know if you're in love?" Sai asked.

"That's all you want to know?" Naruto asked. "Good God. I was afraid you were going to tell me you got her pregnant. How does she make you feel?"

"Well," Sai thought for a moment before speaking. "She...I would defend her with my life. I would give anything to make her happy and I want to be with her as much as possible."

"You're in love," Naruto said. "Be happy she feels the same and use protection next time."

"Okay," Sai said. "Thank you but...is something wrong?"

"Why would something be wrong?" Naruto asked then realized he was gritting his teeth. "I have to go."

He turned and ran away from the village to a separate clearing and took the Lotus position then entered his mindscape. Once inside, he saw that Kurama was growling with his tail between his hind legs and his fur standing on end. Opposite the cage, there was a sack of flesh growing out of the liquid that formed the floor. It was blood red and was pulsating like a heart but was quickly speeding up.

"That's the abomination isn't it?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kurama said. "Time for you to learn your other Chakra Natures."

He flashed memories through Naruto's head and Naruto sighed and then looked around. The sack was beginning to grow. Naruto formed multiple hand seals and shifted the floor to sand.

"Thank you Gaara," Naruto said. "Giant Sand Burial!"

He slammed his hands into the ground and a tsunami of sand shot toward the sack and crushed it. Naruto stood and was about to return to the real world when the abomination shot out of the ground. He felt his body shift into the abomination as well and knew he was running low on time. He made several more hand seals and then fired a Pressure Damage but the abomination blocked it with a Mud Wall. Naruto sighed and opened the cage releasing Kurama.

"Looks like I have no choice," Naruto said. "I'll need your help since Hinata's not here."

"You don't sound very disappointed about it," Kurama said.

"She's safe," Naruto said. "Shall we?"

Kurama shrunk and turned into a second Naruto but with red hair and Kurama's eyes as well as nine tails and a pair of ears.

"Let's," Kurama said.

They both began making hand seals then fired a Pressure Damage/Searing Migraine combo and the abomination again blocked it but this time his wall cracked.

"Too bad he can regenerate them," Naruto said.

"Not if we blast it again," Kurama said.

They fired another attack but the abomination slammed its hands into the ground. A sand tsunami flew at them and Naruto groaned.

* * *

Outside, Naruto was simply sitting still but every time an attack was fired, chakra would shoot out of him. Naruto's attacks sent out chakra that somehow made the surrounding area regenerate but each of Kurama's and the abomination's attacks destroyed the surrounding area. Kurama's attacks canceled out Naruto's and the abomination's made the crater around him bigger and bigger.

* * *

Naruto leapt over the tsunami and Kurama did as well then Naruto grabbed Kurama and threw him past the abomination and Kurama landed on his feet and spun and created a clone and they fired the same combo. Naruto landed and did the same and the two powered up blasts hit the abomination at the same time and his head landed at Naruto's feet before Naruto crushed it.

"Done," Naruto said sealing Kurama back up. "See you."

He returned to his body just as Tsunade and Yamato arrived and looked around. He had leveled a mile around but hadn't harmed anyone and Yamato and Tsunade hadn't arrived in time to get themselves killed. He looked behind himself and saw that he now had three tails.

"You're running low on time," Tsunade said.

"I noticed that," Naruto said.

"How'd you stop it?" Yamato asked.

"Kurama helped then I resealed him," Naruto said.

"That can't be healthy," Yamato said.

"No," Naruto said. "But I didn't have Hinata to help me fight it this time."

"True," Yamato said. "Alright then. I guess I'm not needed."

"Tomorrow you and team seven will be leaving with Yamato," Tsunade said. "Until then, rest and keep yourself calm."

"Alright," Naruto said.

Tsunade left and Naruto returned to his apartment then fell onto the bed and passed out instantly.

THE END

* * *

Read and review.


	28. Chapter 28

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

* * *

Priceless Trap

Naruto leaped from one branch to another at a tantalizingly slow pace. He had to make sure Yamato, Sakura, and Sai could keep up and wanted nothing more than to simply teleport them all to Hinata. They couldn't do that, typically, because Kurama had figured out that excessive use of that jutsu sped up the abomination's regeneration. He could also have Fu teleport them but when they had tried, the portal had rejected Naruto. Therefore, they had to get to them the hard way.

"Naruto!" Yamato said as Naruto began to pull ahead.

"Sorry," Naruto said slowing. "Why can't I go on ahead?"

"Because," Yamato said. "You're a part of this team and you'll stay with this team."

"But it'll take us a full day at this rate," Naruto said.

"I agree," Fu said. "We should move faster."

"No," Yamato said. "I'm not arguing this. Naruto is not running ahead."

"Fine but if Hinata gets hurt I'm going to take my anger out on you," Naruto said. "And you know exactly what I mean."

Everyone but Sai gulped and Naruto clenched his fists taking deep breaths as his temper rose. After a moment he had calmed himself down and everyone relaxed slightly.

"No stopping," Naruto said. "If we have to go at this pace, we're not stopping for a break."

Yamato nodded and they continued in silence. Naruto let his senses rise as high as they could and they kept moving. The entire trip was silent and uneventful until they reached a massive pillar of field with huge crystals scattered about. Naruto landed beside one and his eyes widened. Inside the crystals were people.

"Oh no," Naruto said. "We have to move!"

They continued moving and now Naruto began to notice small things. The high-pitched screeches of bats, the pitter-patter of rain, the smell of crystal.

_"That Crystal type,"_ Naruto said. _"Can I use it?"_

_ "Possibly," _Kurama said._ "If you mix all three of your others it's possible."_

Naruto tried holding his hand in front of himself and managed to create a shuriken out of crystal. He concentrated and the shuriken turned into a kunai then a chakra blade like Asuma's. He smirked and stopped concentrating and the kunai dissolved.

"What is that?" B asked making them all stop and look.

Directly ahead, there was a massive crystal covering several miles. Naruto couldn't smell or hear anything through the crystal but knew that Hinata was inside and needed him.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto said cutting his thumb on a claw then pressing his hand to the ground and summoning Gamatatsu. "Hurry Gamatatsu."

Gamatatsu's cheeks swelled and Naruto set a hand against his back.

"Toad Water Pistol!" Naruto said and Gamatatsu released a blast of water.

The water hit the side of the crystal and it instantly shattered dissolving into dust before disappearing.

"Try to keep up," Naruto said letting Gamatatsu leave and leaping forward and blurring into motion.

He sprinted through the trees dodging around any in his way and running so fast that everything seemed to blur even to him. Finally he skidded to a stop in time to catch a crystal kusarigama before it could smash a crystal with Hinata inside.

"Big...mistake," Naruto said his rage at levels he hadn't known were possible. "Now...you...DIE!"

He yanked the kusarigama and the woman holding it, a young woman probably around twenty two with light blue hair in a spiky ponytail with her bangs framing her face. She had fair skin, dark eyes, a green dress with a long left sleeve and a short right one, a red turtle-neck with a white, fluffy collar and brown gloves flew through the air toward him. Under the dress, she wore a one piece red suit, and calf-length brown sandal boots.

Just before she reached him, she created a crystal katana and thrust it toward him but it smashed against his palm and he caught her hand before smashing his forehead protector into her forehead. She shattered and dissolved and Naruto growled.

"If that hadn't been a crystal clone that might have stung a bit," a second of the woman said stepping out from behind a tree.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said as he and the others of Team eight arrived. "Hinata!"

"Kakashi, take her to safety," Naruto said as the other six tails began to grow along with fur. "If nothing else, he'll be helpful."

"Don't let him take control," Kakashi said. "You're strong enough to kill her without him."

"True," Naruto said closing his eyes. "But he will also go after the three tails directly so he could be helpful."

"Who's he?" the woman asked.

"He wants to know your name before he kills you," Naruto said the fur covering seventy percent of his body already.

"Guren," the woman said. "You must be Naruto Uzumaki."

"That's correct," a male ninja said landing between them. "And my master has cleared his execution. We have all we need of the Nine-tails' chakra."

"You must be Utakata," Naruto said gritting his teeth and forcing his anger to fall as Kakashi picked up Hinata and began to retreat.

Guren threw a crystal kunai but Naruto caught it and crushed it. Utakata was a tall, thin young man with pale golden eyes and brown hair that reached to his shoulders with a large portion of his bangs covering the left side of his face. He wore a long, light blue kimono adorned with a small emblem of three bubbles on the back, and a pair of grey pants underneath, with an orange sash. The kimono hung loose, exposing his chest. In it, he carried a bamboo jug filled with a soap solution, and a pipe was in his hand.

"So Tobi finally decided to just do away with me huh?" Naruto asked. "Can't say I'm surprised. I always was more trouble than I'm worth."

"That's true," a boy around Naruto's age with shoulder-length, dull blueish-grey hair in an asymmetrical style with a single lock falling into his face, and brown eyes.

He wore sandals and the standard monk uniform with long sleeves. His right arm was wrapped in bandages and had a weapon with three claw like blades extending between his fingers and his hand gripping the base and secured through four rings attached to the sides of the blade.

"Name's Sora," the boy said. "Wanna see my ability?"

"Sure," Naruto said.

_"DON'T LET HIM!" _Kurama shouted.

It was too late. Sora switched the claws to his left hand streaming his chakra through them then cut the bandages off and blood red chakra began coming out of his arm in nearly tangible waves. The hand began to grow and took on a demonic appearance and Naruto instantly recognized the chakra coming from it as Kurama's.

"What the hell?" Naruto said jumping back and crouching.

Utakata pressed the pipe to his lips and blew hundreds of bubbles out. They shot at Naruto and Naruto threw kunai at them but they went into the bubbles and were melted in the acid inside.

"Damn!" Naruto said creating a clone and running right around the bubbles and toward Sora while the clone went the other way at Utakata.

"Beast Wave Palm!" Sora said swinging his demonic hand and launching a blood red arch of chakra at Naruto.

"I like that one," Naruto said. "Beast Wave Palm!"

He launched a similar attack but made out of blue chakra and the two met midway. Sora's destroyed Naruto's and continued in a blur. Naruto leapt over the attack at the last second and it flipped over smashing into his back. Naruto flew forward and Sora slashed at him with his claws. Naruto flipped over at the last second narrowly avoiding Sora's claws and landed behind him making hand seals.

"Pressure Damage!" Naruto said blasting Sora in the back.

Sora flew forward crashing into a tree and Naruto stood just as his foot turned to crystal and a bubble wrapped itself around his head from behind. It wasn't acid but it was filled with water. He covered his mouth and nose holding his breath and tried to move his head out of the bubble but the bubble moved with his head. He removed his hand and made hand seals before placing his hand on his foot which turned back to normal and then he turned and leapt at Utakata.

As Naruto fought Sora, his clone was avoiding a constant stream of acid bubbles. When He reached Utakata he moved to place a Reverse Contract Seal on him but an acid bubble suddenly closed around his head and he exploded into smoke.

Naruto leapt at Utakata and Utakata spun kicking Naruto aside. Naruto smashed into Guren and then spun throwing her at Utakata. Utakata couldn't dodge in time and Guren crashed into him just in time for the bubble to pop allowing Naruto to breathe.

"Beast Wave Gale Palm!" Sora said appearing behind Naruto and blasting him with a blood red gale of chakra-laced wind shaped exactly like his demonic hand.

Naruto flew away and landed against a tree holding his hand out at Sora.

"Beast Wave Gale Palm!" Naruto said firing a blue version of the same attack back and sending Sora flying.

"Crystal Style, Jade Crystal Prison!" Guren shouted but Naruto blasted her too before she could finish using the attack which instead encased the tree beside Naruto.

"Crystal Style, Jade Crystal Prison!" Naruto said and the attack began to encase Guren but she did the same move he did and canceled it.

"How do you have my chakra nature?" Guren asked.

Naruto sprinted at Sora and Sora dove at him slashing with his claws and Naruto sidestepped it then placed the Reverse Contract Seal on him. Sora stood and nodded a thanks to Naruto then turned to Utakata.

"I see where this is going," Utakata said. "Time to wake up Saiken."

Suddenly boiling red chakra rose from his skin covering him and five tails extended behind him. The chakra solidified until it was nearly black and formed the shape of a slug.

"Utakata," Naruto said stepping forward. "Is mine. Kill Guren."

Sora grinned looking down at his demonic hand and nodded.

"Beast Wave Gale Palm!" Sora said blasting Guren.

Naruto dashed forward and Utakata smashed the ground sending a shock wave flying toward him. Sora and Naruto both jumped over it and Sora used a second Beast Wave Gale Palm to launch Naruto at Utakata. At the last possible second, Utakata shot out from under Naruto who crashed down where he had been. He stood turning toward Utakata.

"Naruto," Sora said walking over. "I'll handle Utakata. I know your problem and know that Guren's gone. I sent her a bit farther than I meant. While me and Utakata fight, you should get to Hinata."

Naruto nodded and showed Sora the Reverse Contract Seal. Sora promised to use it before they killed each other then Naruto teleported to Hinata. Kakashi had carried her far enough to get clear of Naruto fighting but Naruto knew they needed to move faster.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto said summoning Gamatatsu and Gamakichi.

"Hey Naruto," Gamakichi said looking around. "What...do...you...oh no."

"We need to get her away from here," Naruto said.

Gamakichi and Gamatatsu both wrapped their tongues around on end of Hinata's crystal prison and Naruto gulped. Gamatatsu definitely wasn't his first choice to carry her.

"Be careful," Naruto said. "The crystal will shatter if you drop it and if you do she'll shatter with it then I'll kill you all when I change into the mini-Kurama."

"Understood," Gamakichi said careful not to drop Hinata in the process.

He and Gamatatsu began jumping along quickly away from Sora and Utakata and Naruto and the others followed. After several miles, enormous shock waves began exploding from where Utakata and Sora had been. When they were far enough away that they could no longer feel the wind from the explosions, they stopped and the toads began to slowly and carefully lower Hinata to the ground. As if some higher power wanted Naruto to loose control, a butterfly flew over Gamatatsu's head distracting him and making him let go of Hinata. Naruto instantly shoved him aside and managed to catch the crystal before it had fallen far but cracks still spider-webbed out from where his hands touched it. The cracks spread to her waist and were extremely deep but thankfully stopped about an inch away from her.

"Gamakichi, very carefully put her head down," Naruto said.

Gamakichi lowered Hinata's head to the ground and Naruto carefully set his end down once he had finished. Naruto stepped back and was about to sigh when the cracks began to spread again. They continued until the surface was so cracked that Naruto could barely see through it.

"Please no please no please no," Naruto prayed.

The cracks stopped and he held his breath. Then, the cracks continued for a moment before the crystal exploded and Naruto instantly closed his eyes and turned his head. The others had similar reaction but theirs was to shield their eyes from the flying pieces of crystal. Naruto held back tears and fought the abomination for all he was worth. He was quickly losing but it made no difference. Hinata was gone. He had no real reason left to resist him. As such, the other tails and fur began to spread rapidly.

"N...Naruto," Hinata croaked making Naruto's eyes snap open and his head snap toward her tears instantly spilling from his eyes and the fur retreating with the tails but leaving him with five tails.

"Hinata," Naruto said barely above a whisper when he saw that she was alive.

He dropped to his knees hugging her tightly and shaking with silent sobs of relief. Hinata hugged him back feeling terrible for scaring him so badly. They stayed like that for several minutes before Naruto managed to calm down.

"Much as I want to kill Guren," Naruto said eying his fifth tail, "I think I might need to handle Kurama first."

"No," B said. "Trust me, you'll need time to handle him and that's something we don't have."

"Okay," Naruto said. "Let's hurry up and get this over with. What are we dealing with?"

"One ninja who's coated in slime and can't be effected by Gentle Fist," Hinata said.

"A ninja that can use smoke screens that will block even our senses Naruto," Kiba said. "As well as a ninja that can use high frequency whistles to communicate and control bats."

"One ninja that can shoot exploding canisters and gas grenades out of his sleeve," Shino said.

"And one brute with strength to rival yours for a couple seconds that can expand his body similar to Choji," Kakashi said. "And obviously Guren."

Just then the rest of Team seven arrived and Sakura had to be restrained by Sai to keep her from hitting Naruto for leaving them behind. Naruto disguised his Jinchuriki traits again and looked around.

"Where do we go to find the Three-tails?" Naruto asked.

"No idea," Kakashi said. "Probably just follow Guren."

"Not right now," Naruto said. "I suggest you all fall back while I check on Sora and Utakata. Then I'll meet you at the hot spring to the East. It's not far."

"Okay," Yamato said. "Good luck."

"I'm coming with you," Hinata said.

"All the Jinchuriki are," Naruto said. "It's our problem."

They all headed back to the massive crater left by the battling Jinchuriki and found Utakata pinning Sora to the ground. B entered a form similar to theirs and tackled Utakata. Naruto dashed over and placed the Reverse Contract Seal on him then the chakra on him faded and he passed out. Sora stood and roared and Naruto smashed him in the back of the head dropping him. The chakra on him also faded and he and Hinata began healing the two wounded Jinchuriki. Once they had finished, they picked them up and they all began heading to the hot spring. When they got there, the others had already gotten in. The biggest problem was the lack of any walls separating the hot springs. Or even the plural. There was only one, very large spring with just barely enough steam to conceal someone from ten feet away. Luckily the sign read "Bathing Suits Required".

"I suppose that'll work," Naruto said. "Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my bathing suit."

"I'll send a clone to get it," Fu said. "I forgot mine too."

"Me too," Hinata said.

"I don't have one," B said. "I'll just go o natural."

"No you won't," Naruto said. "You have to wear something."

"My clothes then," B said.

"My swimming trunks are in the top drawer of my dresser," Naruto said.

"My bathing suit is in my closet in the hidden panel in back," Hinata said. "Please don't let Hiashi see you getting it."

"It's still there?" Naruto asked.

"I never got the chance to retrieve it," Hinata said.

"Fair enough," Naruto said.

Fu opened a portal and sent the clone through with the scroll and they sat down and waited. About five minutes later, the clone returned and disappeared. Naruto grabbed his trunks and went into one of the three changing rooms. Hinata and Fu took the other two. When they came back out, the others were leaving the spring with the exception of B.

"We're going to bed," Kakashi said. "See you tomorrow morning."

Naruto nodded and they left then he turned to Fu. Fu was wearing a skin-tight white one-piece bathing suit with the straps crossed in front and a gap revealing a generous amount of cleavage and the bottom being so small that a good amount of her rear hung out. Naruto's attention, however, was on Hinata. She wore a bikini with a bottom so small that it just barely covered her rear and the top did and even poorer job. The cups of her bikini top seemed to be just barely big enough to hold back her breasts and the rest was exposed. The cups were rectangles with two straps holding them together, barely, one strap wrapping around behind her and tied together, and one strap going from the top outside corner of each and tying behind her neck. Naruto couldn't help but whistle and stare at her bathing suit.

"I-it was g-going to be a b-birthday present," Hinata said. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," Naruto said grinning. "But I don't think it would fit me."

Hinata stuck her tongue out but smiled at his bad joke. The three of them went out to the spring and Fu went to sit by B far enough away that the steam almost totally hid them.

"The water's nice," Hinata said sliding in beside Naruto.

"Yes it is," Naruto said. "I'm glad you can enjoy it with me."

"I'm sorry," Hinata said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You failed at that," Naruto said honestly. "But it worked out so I'm not mad."

Hinata smiled and kissed him and then laid her head on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly and he smiled.

"Not that I'm not enjoying the spring but why aren't we sealing the Three-tails?" Naruto asked.

"We need to rest," Hinata said. "I'm tired and you have had a worse day than me. Rest. We'll catch him in the morning."

Naruto nodded just as a young boy walked over.

"Hi," the boy said. "I'm Yukimaru."

"Hello Yukimaru," Hinata said smiling.

"Hi," Naruto said also smiling.

"Wow, you're really pretty," Yukimaru said to Hinata earning a giggle.

"Thanks," Hinata said. "I'm Hinata."

"I'm Naruto," Naruto said. "Where are your parents?"

"I'm here alone," Yukimaru said.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Well shouldn't you head home then?"

"I don't have a home," Yukimaru said.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Well, everyone does. In all honesty, all a home needs is friends and family. So, wherever somebody is thinking about you is your home. Mine is with Hinata."

"That's all you need to be home?" Yukimaru asked. "I wonder if anyone's thinking about me."

"Of course someone's thinking about you," Hinata said. "But if you want you can stay with us."

"Thank you for the offer but I think I know where my home is now," Yukimaru said pulling out a white camellia encased in a crystal.

"That's..." Hinata began and Naruto nodded.

"Well, I should head back now," Yukimaru said smiling and putting the crystal away. "Thank you for talking with me."

And with that, he turned and walked into the mist disappearing. Hinata blinked in surprise and Naruto sighed and sat back thinking.

"I hope he's okay," Hinata said.

"Me too," Naruto said.

They both got out and dried off in the changing rooms then got dressed and found that they were sharing a room with only one king-sized bed. They both got in and almost immediately fell asleep.

THE END

* * *

Read and review. sorry if the story is speeding up again. I'm trying to slow it down but at the same time I have to find a way for specific things to happen at specific times. It should be better shortly. Still looking for fight suggestions. don't be afraid to offer any. I will work on relationships soon so don't worry about that.


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